Bloodstained Souls
by Red Roses2
Summary: Not continuing. Sorry fans. Inspiration has officially died.
1. Chapter 1

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. AU. Pairings: TemaNeji, KanTen, NaruGaa, ItaYon. Info: There's no demons in this, this is a high-school fic, there IS shonen-ai (if you don't know what that is, it's boy-on-boy), Yondaime is alive but no one calls him Yondaime (they call him Arashi-sempai) and he's the head of the Konoha police force, the Uchiha clan is also alive and Itachi didn't go and kill them all (Itachi is actually part of the Konoha police force too), there's practically no mention of ninja except that everyone in Konoha is descendants of ninja and that the Hyuuga and the Uchiha still have their eye techniques. Sunagakure is a horrible, dangerous city to live in, the police are more corrupt than the criminals, the Mafia is pretty much in charge, every crime you can think of happens there, the children have to take weapons to school to protect themselves, and the rest you'll just have to find out on your own. OOC-ness may occur, and if it's Sasuke or Itachi, please tell me because I CAN'T WRITE UCHIHAS! If anyone's read my IruSasu one-shot and said that Sasuke's out of character, you know what I'm talking about. I've never written Itachi, but it's difficult for me to get my head around who he is which will probably be why he'll be OOC if he is. Sasuke, I think the reason was, was that I was sort of thinking of little five-year-old Sasuke when I was writing the romantic parts, but he was in character up until that point. Damn. --X

-

The sun shone above the beautiful, ordered, practically-crime-free city of Konohagakure. It's was seven o'clock in the morning, and school was beginning. The students of Konoha High School were filing into the school, but instead of walking straight to where their individual classes were, they were all crowded around the principal's office, wondering what those "clink, clank, clunk" sounds were for. The students were able to see three unidentifiable silhouettes standing in front of Tsuande-sensei's desk, but that is all.

Hyuuga Neji, the school's smartest thirteen-year-old, activated his Byakugan and peered through the window. He discovered that the unidentifiable silhouettes were a beautiful girl who looked about fifteen, a boy who looked about fourteen, and a Goth who looked about twelve. The boy and the girl were emptying their many pockets of . . . knives, daggers, guns, and poison injections? The boy had apparently stripped down to his boxers a little while ago and was removing a gun holster from his waist. Who the hell were these kids? Didn't they know that no one was allowed to take weapons to school? A blush crept onto Neji's cheeks as the girl slipped out of her shirt to remove a few more daggers. Perhaps he should stop watching . . . but she was pretty hot.

-

"GAH! I'm late!" screamed a blond boy named Uzumaki Naruto who was running down the halls.

His best friend, Uchiha Sasuke, the seventh grade's personal dark-blue-haired student, ran after him, grumbling something that sounded like "I told you to get a move on, but no, you had to . . . ." and the rest of his sentence is lost to the world. The two boys made a sharp left turn and entered homeroom. Naruto came to a screeching halt, and Sasuke slowed down calmly.

"You're late," said the brown-haired teacher standing in front of the class.

"Sorry, Iruka-sensei. Naruto was dawdling again," Sasuke said.

"So? You could've gone ahead without me!" Naruto replied loudly.

"If I did that, you never would've showed up," Sasuke retorted.

"Go to your seats, NOW, Uchiha-kun, Uzumaki-kun," Iruka-sensei ordered, pointing to their seats.

"Yes, sensei," the two boys said in unison.

Sasuke seated himself in his desk in the back corner. Naruto plopped into his seat next to the window that acted as the divider between the front of the class and the back of the class.

"Now that everyone's here, I have an announcement to make. We have two new students. You may come in now," Iruka-sensei said.

The door opened and two people walked in. One was a boy with brown spiky hair clad in torn jeans, a ripped T-shirt, and a torn-up jean jacket. The other was a red-headed Goth with a tattoo on his forehead; the tattoo was the kanji for love. Naruto's jaw dropped at the sight of the red-head. There wasn't anyone who looked remotely like him in Konohagakure. Sasuke's eyes widened; where had he seen the insignia on their headbands before?

"Their names are Kankuro and Gaara. They're transfer students from Sunagakure," Iruka-sensei continued.

Sasuke gasped. That's why it looked familiar! The insignia was the symbol of Sunagakure, the city that was a thirty-mile drive from there with an incredible amount of crime! His brother had warned him to stay away from anyone who was in Konohagakure with that symbol on them, and to warn the police immediately because anyone who left Sunagakure was obviously up to no good. If only Sasuke could remember exactly why that was!

"Would you two like to introduce yourselves?" Iruka-sensei asked the two boys.

"I'm Kankuro and I'm fourteen." Kankuro began, but he was cut off by a snigger. He glared in the snigger's direction. "The reason I'm in this grade is because Sunagakure doesn't have a high education expectation, but Konohagakure does, so that's the only reason. Oh, and Dad's rich which is why the stupid police actually let us move. If any of you are really as smart as you make yourselves out to be, you know that the only way to get out of Sunagakure is to pay a huge amount of money, like in the billions."

Kankuro left it at that. They stood up there for a minute until Kankuro nudged the red-head. Naruto could've sworn he heard Kankuro mutter "say something" before the red-head opened his mouth.

"I'm Gaara and if any of you have a brain you'll stay out of my way and leave me alone," the red-head said.

Kankuro nudged him again as though he wanted him to say something else. Gaara didn't speak again, however, so Kankuro gave up on it and asked Iruka-sensei where their seats were.

"Kankuro-kun, you may sit next to Hyuuga-chan. Gaara-kun, you may sit next to . . . Uzumaki-kun," Iruka-sensei directed.

Gaara and Naruto locked gazes for a second. The blond gulped. The cold glare pierced through him like a sharp knife, installing fear in him. He gulped again. Gaara stepped slowly toward the empty seat next to Naruto. It seemed to take forever, even though it only took one-and-a-half minutes.

Kankuro quickly took his seat next to Hyuuga Hinata (as her nametag said her name was underneath the leaf symbol). The dark-purple-haired girl blushed and kept her gaze off of him. Kankuro raised an eyebrow, then remembered how Gaara was when he was really little and not allowed outside of the house.

'So, Konohagakure still has shy kids. Cool,' Kankuro thought before putting all of his attention on Iruka-sensei.

-

"Uh, hi, I'm Temari. I'm fifteen, but since Sunagakure has a poor education system, I guess I'm a little dumb compared to the rest of you since this is eighth grade. I'm the eldest of three. My younger brothers, Kankuro and Gaara, are in seventh grade now, but Gaara's the only one who's supposed to be in seventh grade. I am from Sunagakure, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to hurt any of you. I'm not any of those people who cause the trouble, I'm just the girl who has to protect herself is all, and I probably should shut up now before I further embarrass myself," Temari said, laughing nervously.

Neji, Tenten, and Lee spared glances at each other, and they knew what each of them was thinking. They had known each other so long that that was possible.

Lee was thinking: Sunagakure must be awful.

Tenten was thinking: Poor girl. I think we should help her. What do you think Neji?

Neji was thinking: Sure, Tenten. You in, Lee?

Lee thought back: Of course!

The three of them then concentrated on what was happening in the outside world. Temari was assigned the seat in between Neji and Lee, which was in front of Tenten.

"Now, class, I have an assignment for you all. You are all to tutor someone from the seventh grade. Hyuuga-kun, you shall tutor Uchiha-kun. Tenten-chan, you shall tutor Kankuro-kun. Rock-kun, you shall tutor Gaara-kun. Temari-chan, you shall tutor Uzumaki-kun," the teacher continued on and on like that. The only thing that processed into Temari's mind was that this Tenten and Rock were going to be tutoring her brothers.

"Psst. Hey, which one is Tenten and Rock?" Temari whispered to Neji.

"Tenten's behind you, and Rock Lee is on your other side," Neji informed.

"Thanks," Temari said then looked over at her shoulder to the girl behind her. "Tenten, Kankuro's my brother, so I thought that you should know that Kankuro sort of has an ego problem."

"'Kay. Thanks for the tip. I'll try to be gentle," Tenten whispered.

"Lee? Gaara's my other brother, and he's not the most friendliest person. He takes defending oneself to an extreme. You might not want to even try. Sometimes he acts like he'd harm one of his own siblings," Temari whispered.

"Don't worry about me, I'm sure I'll be fine. I'm not one of the best martial artists in this school for nothing!" Lee whispered, giving Temari a thumbs-up.

The blonde smiled worriedly. That was sort of what she was afraid of, that he'd fight back. That only encouraged Gaara.

-

Red Roses2: Short, I know, but hey, it's getting started. Review, flame, praise, critique, do whatever. Just put more than a ". . ." Someone actually did that in a review. It was kind of pointless. 


	2. Chapter 2

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. And if I don't get, like, ten reviews for this chapter, I'm not updating. I KNOW FOR A FREAKING FACT that you people are reading. But only TWO PEOPLE have reviewed. Someone has this story on their ALERTS and HASN'T REVIEWED. I accept anomynous reviews if you're too lazy to log in. I don't care if you freaking flame! Just review! Okay, done with my rant. I usually don't request for a certain amount of reviews for an update, but this is just ridiculous.

-

Kankuro groaned when he heard he had a TUTOR of all things. The only reason he resisted pouting was that Gaara had a tutor, too, and he knew Gaara didn't need one. Apparently it was some stupid thing the school thought up so the eighth graders would have something to do.

The older newbie looked around the class. There were a fair amount of people from his homeroom in there. Hyuuga Hinata had the same Science class with him (the teacher was Morino Ibiki and he was SCARY). Haruno Sakura shared P.E. and Health with him (the P.E. teacher was Maito Gai and the Health teacher was Yuuhi Kurenai). He had History all by himself, but his teacher was Iruka-sensei, so that wasn't so bad; he also learned that Iruka-sensei was the school's counselor for more than half of the students. Japanese and English he shared with Yamanaka Ino and Nara Shikamaru.

He found it a little odd that he and Gaara didn't have any of their classes together. He hadn't even seen Gaara since homeroom. He had hoped he could see his little brother by lunch time, but no dice. Gaara hadn't been out of anyone's sights for two whole months. This was also the first time he'd been out of the house in two months. For some reason, Gaara wouldn't come out of his room and only Dad was allowed in.

Kankuro shrugged. Even if he didn't, there was always home.

"Uh, hello? Are you Kankuro?" asked a voice that Kankuro didn't recognize.

Kankuro blinked and realized that someone was standing in front of his desk. A girl with black hair (or was it dark brown hair?) tied up into buns atop her head stood there with one arm holding books and her hand on her hip.

"I'm Tenten. Are you Kankuro?" she asked, her voice ringing like a songbird's.

"Uh, yeah, I'm Kankuro. Why?"

"Then I'm your tutor. And it's the end of school. Unless you want to be mistaken as the janitor, I suggest you start getting ready to leave. Your sister's waiting for you in the front of the school."

"Uh, thanks," Kankuro said, turning red and picking up his bag. "By the way, have you seen my brother? He's red-headed and seems to be the only Goth in this entire school."

"Oh, him? My friend, Lee, dragged him off somewhere. Lee's his tutor. And he's probably not, but most of us aren't allowed to dress up like that. For some reason, Tsuande-sensei made him an exception to the dress code. Same goes for you and your sister, actually. Most of us aren't allowed to wear torn up jeans to school," Tenten said matter-of-factly.

"Oh. Sorry about that. Almost all the stuff I wear has holes in it, and it's not even because I can't afford better clothes."

"Believe it or not, here in Konohagakure, people actually PAY for jeans that are ALREADY torn up."

"What! Do you know what I'd give to have jeans that wouldn't end up ripped to shreds a week later?"

"No, but by the sound of it, it would be a lot. Ah, there's Temari-chan. Hey! Temari-chan! Over here!"

"Hey, Tenten-chan! Lee-kun said he'd meet us at my house since you and he are tutoring my brothers and all!" Temari replied.

"What does Uzumaki-kun feel about that?" Tenten asked, now closer to Temari and Naruto.

"I'm cool with it. And just call me Naruto. But are you really related to that red-head? I'd never be able to tell, and not just because of the hair," Naruto said, arms behind his head. "How come you're so much nicer than him, Temari-chan?"

Temari smiled sadly and Kankuro kept his eyes an ant on the ground.

"He wasn't always like that. It's a recent change actually. We don't know what caused it," Temari explained. "Anyway, let's get a move on. I'm kinda hungry, are you guys?"

"Yeah!"

-

Lee gaped at the house. It was HUGE! It was almost as big as the Hyuuga mansion! Gaara pulled out the house key and unlocked the door. He didn't look back to see if Lee was still following him.

"This is where you live?" Lee asked, walking behind Gaara into the house.

The red-head nodded and walked into the kitchen. The kitchen resembled an Italian restaurant's kitchen. The floor was tiled with marble; the countertops were made of a dark green marble; the cutting boards were made from mahogany wood, the knives were custom-made and the sink looked expensive.

Gaara sat down at the table that stood in the middle of the large kitchen. He took out his History book and opened it. He looked expectantly at Lee who was still staring at the room in awe.

"Are we going to study or what?" Gaara said in a raspy voice after a full minute.

Lee blinked a few times before the question settled in his brain.

"Right! Yes! I'm sorry, I've just never stepped into a place like this! Neji-kun has a similar house, but I'm never allowed in."

Gaara merely grunted at Lee's excuse and looked at his book. Lee pulled out several text books and laid them out on the table.

"Which do you want to study first? History, Science, Algebra, English, or Japanese?"

Gaara didn't say anything; he just pointed at the Japanese text book, which happened to be an exact copy to what Gaara was currently reading. Lee chuckled nervously and opened his book.

They studied for forty-five minutes before Temari, Tenten, Kankuro, and Naruto arrived.

Temari had opened the door.

"We're home, Gaara-nii-chan! You and Lee get home alright?" Temari shouted clearly.

"Hello, Temari-chan!" Lee called. "Your little brother doesn't speak much!"

"Yeah, I know. It's actually gotten worse these past couple of months," Temari answered as she walked into the kitchen, Naruto, Tenten, and Kankuro in tow.

Naruto and Gaara stared at each other for a while. Gaara blinked slowly once then scowled. Naruto chose to be more vocal about it.

"Why does the universe want us to be in the same room all day?" Naruto asked.

Gaara shrugged then looked down at his book, wanting to ignore everyone.

"What do you mean?" Tenten questioned Naruto.

"He's been in every single one of my classes. Not even my best friend, Sasuke, is in all of my classes!"

"Really?" Kankuro asked. "Huh, no wonder I haven't seen Gaara all day. I'm not in any of your classes."

"So how long are we going to study?" Naruto said, plopping into a chair and making himself comfortable.

"I guess a few hour - ."

"As long as necessary," Gaara hissed quietly, glaring at his sister. "There are not going to be any parties tonight, Temari-nee-san. Especially no alcohol. You remember the last time you got drunk, right?"

Temari laughed nervously. The youngest of the siblings glared. Whether it was lazily or tiredly, it was hard to tell. Kankuro shuddered at the memory as he sat down. Suddenly, he stood back up and pulled out a chair.

"Sorry. Forgot my manners for a second," Kankuro said, referring to Tenten.

Tenten blinked for a few seconds. Then she realized he was offering the chair to her. She smiled kindly at him.

"Thank you," she said and sat down.

Gaara rolled his eyes and Naruto made a gagging sound. The blond received glares.

The next three hours passed in one-third noise, one-third silence, and one-third normal speaking. Kankuro and Tenten eventually had to go into the living room so that they could get away from Temari quickly loosing her temper at Naruto's rebelliousness. Gaara only occasionally glanced up at his sister and the blond boy. Lee shifted nervously, having difficultly concentrating himself, but too afraid of infuriating Temari to say anything. Lee did think of asking Gaara if he would like to move, but after thinking about that for a few moments, he realized that Gaara wasn't the type to just sit there if he minded. The red head would either say something along the lines of "shut up" (like Neji did often) or just get up and leave (like Tenten often did when she was annoyed by Neji's and Lee's banters). So the black-haired boy just sat there and tried to survive the night.

Temari eventually gave up on Naruto and asked if anyone was hungry. Kankuro gave a manly scream and those in the kitchen could hear him running up stairs, yelling "DUCK FOR COVER! TEMARI'S THINKING OF COOKING!" Naruto burst out laughing, Lee restrained himself from chuckling, they could hear Tenten giggling, and Gaara merely shook his head. Temari glared at the patch of ceiling where Kankuro's room was.

"Ungrateful little . . . . So what are you guys hungry for?" Temari said.

Tenten entered the kitchen, still giggling.

"How 'bout dumplings? I'll cook them if you want. Your brother's kind of funny," Tenten said.

"No, he's not," Temari retorted with a glare.

"Uh, I know how to fix fried rice and sushi," Lee suggested.

"Do you have ramen?" Naruto asked.

Temari looked like she was thinking.

"It's been a while since I've had shrimp tempura. Uncle Yashamaru used to make it. Maybe we could have that?" Temari said, smiling.

Two loud thuds broke through the air. The group of four looked at Gaara, who had closed his book and slammed it onto the table. Everyone kept silent as he stood up.

"I have to get started on this essay for English. I'll be up in my room," Gaara said and walked toward the stairs.

"Do you want me to bring something up to you?" Temari asked kindly, like one would for an ill child.

"No. I'm not hungry," Gaara hissed, exiting the kitchen.

The room was quiet for a few more seconds.

"What's his problem?" Naruto asked.

Temari frowned. She turned to the refrigerator and motioned to open the door, but stopped.

"Two months ago, our uncle died. Kankuro and I actually didn't know about it until the funeral. The funeral was an entire week after his death. Gaara had confined himself to his room for that entire week, only letting Dad in. He didn't go to the funeral either. After the funeral, Dad said that we were going to try to move. He didn't tell us where. During the rest of those two months, he round up the money, paid the quote-on-quote law enforcement so we could move, then we all started packing. That's when we finally got to see Gaara again . . . and his room . . . . On one side of the room, the floor was covered in blood. There was a bullet hole in the wall. Gaara was shaking, wouldn't tell us what happened, and he was much, much thinner than the last time we saw him. We still don't know what happened, but it was like one of the people in Sunagakure who had seen the worst that the town can give. We . . . we talked to Dad about getting Gaara some counseling, but he turned that idea down. Because of Sunagakure's bad reputation, none of us can get anything that's not required by law until we've been here for three years with no criminal record. I'm not even sure where Dad's working, or what his job is because of it. Then again, I didn't know what his job was in Sunagakure either."

Temari trailed off. She seemed to be in deep thought. She turned to the three and smiled brightly.

"Nothing to worry about though! We'll get it fixed eventually!" Temari reassured.

Naruto, Lee, and Tenten were silent. Tenten walked over to Temari and gave her a gentle hug. Lee stood up.

"Iruka-sensei is great with kids! He's also the school's counselor! He'll be glad to help Gaara-kun with any problems he has!" Lee announced. "He's also helped me with my own!"

"Yeah, we'll get you guys help in no time!" Tenten agreed.

"Maybe I can get my dad to do something. He is the head of the Konoha police force," Naruto said.

Temari's jaw dropped.

"He's the what? How'd he raise such a rebellious kid?" Temari asked.

Naruto grinned foxily.

-

Red Roses2: Start guessing what happened to Gaara. I dare you. Se-Isis, I know you know. Anyway, PLEASE review with whipped cream, a cherry, chopped nuts, hot fudge, carmel, and a hot date with insert character on top? With a romantic dinner for two in insert favorite country with a hotel reservation hinthint? 


	3. Chapter 3

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. A couple of months have passed since their first day in Konoha. Thank you for your reviews. Makes me feel loved.

-

Kankuro stared at his ceiling. What the hell was he going to do? Temari planned on holding another party tonight. Sure, he hid the alcohol with some assistance from Gaara, but what if people entered his room? Why they would do that, he didn't even want to think about, but it was a possibility. Kankuro sat up and looked around his room. The shelves held, not books, but dolls and marionettes. He and his siblings left each other to their own devices, never stepped into each others' rooms unless necessary. Kankuro discovered this was odd, but he didn't really care. It allowed him to hide his doll-collecting (which Temari would make fun of) and his marionette-playing (which Gaara would narrow his eyes at). Because of the latter, Gaara once (after peeking into a shopping bag) actually asked if he was a pervert. Kankuro was understandably insulted. Why Gaara would put marionette and pervert together, Kankuro didn't understand, but he didn't really care. It merely made him wonder exactly what went on in his brother's head.

Kankuro clearly remembered when he bought his first doll. It was back when Gaara was four and confined in the safety of their home and Yashamaru's arms. It was Kankuro's first time outside of the house. Temari had showed him around the square, where his kindergarten would be, why you didn't trust strangers, and where the few shopping centers were located. Their dad was with them, but not paying much attention to everything they were doing; he was too preoccupied with keeping kidnappers, murderers, and pedophiles away. The doll had been a china doll, with long black hair and a purple kimono. Kankuro for the life of him couldn't tell anyone why he was able to find such a pretty thing in Sunagakure. Then again, he was perplexed as to why anyone would send food supplies to Sunagakure, too. The doll had cost him fifty ryo. He had been collecting ever since.

He picked the china doll back up and cradled it in his arms. Her kimono was now torn up and she was missing a sandal. Her hair looked like it was in desperate need of shampoo, and the name he had given her escaped him again. Ever since he found out that Yashamaru died, he couldn't remember her name. He didn't know why, and if he did know, he probably wouldn't understand it. He still loved it the most, however.

Kankuro frowned as he reminded himself that his most prized possessions were what caused him such distress at the moment. Stupid Temari and her partying antics, Kankuro thought, they always go wild, she always ends up drunk, and I have to keep a bastard or five from stealing something, not to mention the headaches it gives Gaara. The boy shuddered as he remembered one time when Gaara's headache got so bad that he forced everyone out, and not necessarily out of the house. Kankuro wondered if the bloodstains were still on the living room wall. They probably were.

Kankuro sighed and set the doll back on its shelf. He'd just have to lock his bedroom door, like he did last time. He just wished that he had a key to his door already. Gaara never needed one. Gaara never locked himself out of his room. He only locked himself in it. "It's stupid to lock yourself out, Kankuro," Gaara once said. He was right, but what would be even stupider would be letting those renegade teenagers near his fragile, breakable dolls. The marionettes he could fix, but he had run out of the proper glue for the dolls. He couldn't yet find a store that sold it in Konohagakure, either.

Kankuro sighed again. This party was going to be a real pain. He couldn't help but wonder, however, exactly how rowdy Konoha teens were. Hopefully not as rowdy as Sunagakure teens because that would be a nightmare.

-

Temari smiled as she handed out invitations.

"You're holding a party?" Tenten asked, looking at the invitation with interest. "When is it?"

"Tonight! You don't have to dress up, no one in Suna ever does," Temari said.

"I accept!" Lee said happily.

Neji looked at the invitation, turning it over in his hand.

"I don't think I can go. I have to baby-sit my cousins tonight," Neji said, handing the invitation back to her.

"They can come too if they want," Temari said.

"I don't know. Hinata-chan doesn't like crowds, and Hanabi-chan hates anything that remotely relates to having a social life. And this is a seven-year-old we're talking about."

"Then they can hang out with Gaara and Kankuro because Gaara always locks himself in his room anyway and Kankuro hates the fact that I throw parties."

Neji raised an eyebrow at her.

"You're suggesting I let my female cousin hang out with your brother by themselves in his room?" Neji said, his voice dripping with disapproval.

"If it was any other boy, I definitely see your point. But Gaara doesn't seem to have any interest in girls, let alone other people. They can bug Kankuro if it bothers you so much, though."

Temari and Neji stared at each other for a few more moments. Neji then pocketed the invitation.

"Thank you for the invitation. I'll be bringing Hinata-chan and Hanabi-chan."

"Great!" Temari said, turning around and walking down the hall.

"Who else are you inviting?" Tenten called after her.

"I thought that I guess I could be a little nice and invite some of the seventh graders. Besides, Neji's younger cousins get to come, so why not Naruto? Gaara seems to like his company, anyway." Temari replied.

"How can you tell? Your brother's like a statue, completely vacant of emotions."

"After you lived with him long enough, you're able to tell. He doesn't leave the room when we're studying, and usually he'd never put up with my racket."

-

Gaara groaned. He thought Temari didn't know these many people. Correction, he knew Temari didn't know these many people. He thought that she knew better than to let strangers into her house. That was the only reason why Gaara wasn't up in his room ignoring it all the best he could. He wanted to keep an eye on every single one of them, especially the dark-blue-haired kid. Gaara couldn't remember his name, but he knew that the boy didn't like him. The kid in the white jacket with the high collar looked rather suspicious, too. Common sense mentioned that Gaara himself must've looked rather suspicious to all of them, but not even common sense was brave enough to contradict him.

Gaara rolled his eyes when he found Kankuro. Apparently, Kankuro befriended every girl in their class. Perhaps Kankuro hoped that a female wouldn't ridicule him for his doll collecting? (Yes, he knew all about that.)

He found Temari talking with Lee, Tenten, and Neji and, after making sure she hadn't found the hidden alcohol, left to check up on the household.

The lazy kid and the fat kid lounged near the food table, and seeing that the fat kid was eating most of it, and the lazy kid had no motivation to do anything let alone poison something, Gaara deemed them safe. One of the boys brought his dog with him and he was chatting with the kid with the white jacket. The dog (or was it a very hairy, very big rat) sat on the boy's head. The canine glanced over at him and sniffed the air around him. The dog mustn't have smelled anything it didn't like because it ignored Gaara after that. The red-head decided they were harmless. There was only one person in that room who he wouldn't call completely harmless and that was the dark-blue-haired kid. It didn't matter that Naruto was talking to him as though they knew each other really well. He didn't trust him, not one bit.

Gaara seated himself in a chair near the dark-blue-haired boy and Naruto, not bothering to hide the fact that he was keeping an eye on him. The boy noticed Gaara's stare very quickly. He glared back, and the glare caught Naruto's attention. The blond turned around and noticed Gaara.

"Hey, Gaara!" Naruto greeted. "Gaara, this is Sasuke, my best friend. Sasuke, this is Gaara. We've been stuck studying together because his sister's my tutor. He's not that bad, actually. Doesn't talk much, but isn't bad."

"Hello, Gaara," Sasuke said rather venomously.

Gaara grunted. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. Gaara ignored him after that.

"Naruto," Gaara said, and after a pause, "what's your family like?"

Naruto blinked. He obviously didn't expect to be asked that.

"Well, Mom died giving birth to me. Dad and I live in an apartment. Dad is the head of the police force here and his second-in-command is Sasuke's older brother, Itachi. They visit my place often enough. My aunt's the principal at our school; you know Tsuande-sensei, right? My uncle is Jiraiya, the author of Icha-Icha-Paridise, the most perverted book in existence. My cousins, Shizune and Kabuto, are their kids. Shizune's adopted and she's around eighteen. Kabuto's their biological kid and he's around sixteen; he'll be graduating Konoha High this year and will be going to the same four-year college as Shizune. Both of them are going to become doctors; Shizune's going to specialize in cardiology and Kabuto's planning on being a neurologist, but he's really interested in orthopedic stuff, too," Naruto replied, glad he finally was able to talk with the boy.

According to Naruto, Gaara was the most bearable of the siblings. He was kind of cool, too. He'd caught a glance of the kid's room; it was the coolest room he'd ever seen, and that's including Sasuke's, and Sasuke's was pretty cool.

"What about you?" Naruto asked friendly, hoping to find out more about the red-head.

There was a very long pause before Gaara said something.

"According to a rather distraught Kankuro, I'm technically my mother's murderer. I only have my father, Temari, and Kankuro, but there was my uncle Yashamaru. He was murdered two months before we moved here," said Gaara.

They were suddenly interrupted by a happy cry. 

"WOOHOO! I FOUND IT!"

"Found what?"

"The liquor!"

Gaara let that sink in for two seconds. So did Kankuro.

"TEMARI! YOU PUT THOSE BOTTLES BACK!"

"Temari-nee-san. Put them down. Or I hurt you."

Temari stuck her tongue out at Kankuro, but froze as Gaara pulled out a knife. The knife looked like no one had bothered cleaning it after its last slaughter.

"Put them down," Gaara repeated.

"Ah, of course! Yes, of course! No idea what I was thinking, bringing these out. I guess I just get wrapped up in the party sometimes! Heh eh heh!" Temari said nervously, putting the bottles back in its cabinet.

After the bottles were locked up again, Gaara hid the knife. Temari and Kankuro sighed in relief.

Sometimes Gaara was scary.

-

Red Roses2: Feel free to share ideas on Yashamaru. Except for you, Se-Isis. You can't because you DO know. That wouldn't be fair. Please review. And you better. (Death Glare) 


	4. Chapter 4

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. It's a few weeks after the party. Here's where everything gets interesting! Review please!

-

Naruto cracked an eye open. He tried to remember exactly where he was. Oh yeah, he had stayed over at Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara's house and studying took hours so it got so late that even Naruto thought it wasn't a good idea to go back home. So he got to sleep over. He picked to sleep in Gaara's room. His choice scared Kankuro and Temari but Gaara didn't seem to care.

Now Naruto wanted to figure out where that odd sound was coming from. The sound was what woke him up in the first place.

Naruto rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stood up. He looked over at Gaara's bed and blinked. The red-head seemed to be having a nightmare. That didn't seem possible, but that what it looked like. The reason Naruto didn't think it was possible was because Gaara was more into horror books and movies than he and Sasuke were! His room was even painted with vampire colors!

Getting back to the matter at hand, Naruto walked over to Gaara's side and shook him.

"Hey, Gaara, wake up," Naruto said in a not-so-quiet voice.

The red-head mumbled something that sounded like "No, Yashamaru, no." Naurto couldn't be sure though.

"Gaara! Wake up!"

Gaara sat up suddenly, his right hand grasping the front of Naruto's shirt. He panted and looked around quickly. He sighed, and his eyes returned to their normal expressionless state, but Naruto caught the fear in them a few seconds ago.

"What the hell was that dream about?" Naruto asked after a couple of moments.

Gaara turned to him, glanced at his hand and let go of Naruto's pajama shirt. Naruto shook his head as he glanced at the red-head's nightshirt. The guy even slept in vampire attire!

"What did you hear? I know I talk in my sleep when I have a nightmare," Gaara said emotionlessly.

"Something about Yashamaru. He was your uncle, wasn't he?" Naruto said, putting his hands behind his head.

Gaara nodded slowly. Naruto raised an eyebrow as he watched the boy's hands clutch the black sheets. The blond looked back up at his companion's face and gasped at the pained look on his face.

"I'll – I'll tell you if you promise not to tell anyone, and I mean anyone. Not even Kankuro or Temari. They don't know anything about it, and it should stay that way," Gaara said quietly.

Naruto sat on the edge of the bed.

"'Kay, I promise I won't tell. But it must be pretty bad if you of all people are having a nightmare. Are you sure?"

"Positive. Can you keep your voice down? I don't want Temari-nee-san coming in here."

Naruto nodded rapidly.

"It started back when my family was still in Sunagakure. It was around the two months before we moved here. It was a fairly normal day; Temari had beat up five perverts, Kankuro was covered in blood before school even began, and Father was absent most of the day. The evening was what went horribly wrong. Temari and Kankuro didn't show up until ten o'clock at night, which meant they were five hours late. In those five hours . . . Yashamaru did something bad . . . to me. . . ."

Naruto waited a few minutes for Gaara to continue.

"And?" Naruto prompted.

Gaara glared at him half-heartedly.

"Sorry, I know this is probably hard to say but I get impatient easily," Naruto added.

Gaara sighed.

"Yashamaru raped me."

They sat there in silence, Gaara's words seeming to echo throughout the room despite the fact that he whispered it. Naruto attempted to process the information.

"He – what?"

"Don't make me repeat it," Gaara mumbled, almost pleaded. "It happened two more times in the same week before Father found out. I don't really know what happened to Yashamaru, but I'm assuming he died because there was lots of blood and people usually don't hold funerals for people merely missing." 

Naruto didn't say anything. He stared at the red-head in awe. Gaara's emotionless mask broke and Naruto saw how hurt he was. Tears begged to fall, but Gaara seemed to forbid them. The blond didn't know what to do.

"I – I'm sorry that happened to you," Naruto whispered.

On impulse, Naruto hugged the red-head. Gaara didn't pull away, so Naruto assumed that he wasn't going to hurt him for it. Silently Gaara's tears fell and dampened Naruto's pajama shirt. The red-head couldn't cry more than two or three, however.

". . . . Thank you . . . Naruto-kun."

-

Days later, Gaara and Naruto didn't mention, not even to each other in privet, about that night. But Temari and Kankuro figured something had happened to make them act like friends. Naruto and Gaara even started hanging out with each other outside of school and Gaara's house.

"Cool, they got that new werewolf book out!" Naruto exclaimed, picking off the shelf.

Gaara shrugged, picking up a vampire novel.

"I'm not really into werewolves," Gaara muttered.

"I noticed that by what your room looks like. It's as though you've walked into Vampire Heaven. Wait . . . ."

Gaara chuckled at the irony of Naruto's sentence.

"Anyway, I suggest you give it a try. Not that I would know, but don't vampires become a little dull and boring after a while?" Naruto asked.

Gaara blinked slowly. They stood there quietly for a few moments. Naruto was having a hard time getting used to these silences.

"I guess I could give it a try," Gaara admitted, picking up a copy off of the book shelf.

Naruto grinned.

"Hey, blockhead. What're you doing here?" called a voice.

Naruto whipped around happily and Gaara narrowed his eyes. Sasuke walked toward them. The bluenet glared at the red-head.

"Hey Sasuke! And stop calling me a blockhead!" Naruto replied in mock indignity.

"Whatever," Sasuke said, pulling a collection of short horror stories off the shelf. "What's he doing here?"

Gaara glared at him, having not missed the emphasis on the word "he".

"He and I have been hanging out," Naruto said, seemingly unaware that Sasuke didn't like Gaara and vice versa.

"Hmph," Sasuke grunted.

"By the way, how's your brother doing?" Naruto asked; maybe he wasn't that clueless.

"Well, apparently there's some issue involving the Mafia. Something about some guy called Wind Shadow in the area. A bit odd to be here in Konoha, though. He'd only get caught, every law-breaker here gets caught."

"How do they know he's in Konoha?"

"If your dad hasn't told you, how am I supposed to know? Itachi won't tell me anything Arashi won't tell you."

"Damn it. I like getting the scoops before the reporters."

"Yeah, me too. And it's a little hard to figure out exactly what the law enforcement biz is about. I mean, every time I ask Itachi was the advantages and disadvantages are to being a cop, he starts off with the disadvantages, gets to the advantages, then starts laughing and tells me to ask Obito who's never around long enough to ask him anything."

"Why? You wanting to be a cop too?"

"I was thinking about it. What about you?"

"Well . . . I don't know. Dad would blow a gasket if I went into law enforcement."

"Why?"

"'Cause he'd be too worried! Kind of makes you wonder what he thinks he's put Aunt Tsuande, Uncle Jiraiya, and me through, but yeah. Aunt Tsuande's been discouraging me from becoming a teacher or anything like that because of the low pay, and there's no way I'd help Uncle Jiraiya with his books like he keeps asking me to. I don't want to be known as the second biggest pervert in Konoha!"

"What about . . . a doctor . . . like your cousins?" Gaara suggested quietly.

Sasuke glared at him, obviously wanting Gaara to butt out of the conversation. Naruto, on the other hand, welcomed him in with open arms.

"Nah, it doesn't matter what Shizune and Kabuto say; I'm not smart enough for that." Naruto said.

Sasuke and Gaara frowned, forgetting that the other was there. Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, but Gaara, surprising both Sasuke and Naruto, beat him to it.

"That's only because you're not exerting yourself," Gaara said, holding a hand up when Naruto looked like he was about to protest. "Remember, I've seen every single study session you've had with my sister. You two go nowhere fast. It's like you don't want to try. Even Kankuro gets better grades than you, and he's dumber than you are. It's not because you're not brilliant, it's because you aren't trying. Care to say why?"

Naruto gaped at him.

"That's the most I've ever heard you say," Naruto stated.

Sasuke snorted. Gaara glared at the bluenet.

"Well?" Gaara urged, ignoring Sasuke and giving Naruto an annoyed look.

"Uh, I don't know. I just don't have any goals in any of the classes, I guess," Naruto admitted sheepishly.

"We're going to have to fix that, now aren't we?" Gaara muttered.

The red-head turned away from them and picked another book off the shelf. It was another werewolf novel.

-

Sasuke walked back to where he left Itachi, which was the mystery section.

"Hey, kiddo. Where'd you disappear off to?" Itachi asked.

"Went to the horror section. Found Naruto there. He's hanging out with that Suna kid, though. You know, the red head I told you about?" Sasuke replied.

"The one who would kill anyone who'd get in his way?" Itachi said.

Sasuke nodded.

"I don't know why Naruto even wants to be in the same room as him, let alone be friends with him. He's a jerk."

Itachi stayed quiet for a few moments, listening to Sasuke continuing his rant. He thought about how Sasuke described the kid. Could he really be . . . ?

"Are they still in the store?" Itachi asked.

"Uh, yeah, Naruto said they were going to buy their books then head to the food court," Sasuke answered.

Itachi put the book back on the shelf, turned on his heel, and headed to the check-out. Sasuke followed, wondering what Itachi's hurry was. They had plenty of time before they had to be home, and it was Itachi's day-off. Usually his big brother wanted to spend as much time as possible in the library or bookstore on his days off.

The two Uchiha reached the check-out. Naruto and Gaara had just got to the front of the line. Itachi narrowed his eyes at the red-head. Yes, he definitely looked like that kid. The question was: did his profile match?

"Hey, Naruto-kun," Itachi called out.

Naruto and Gaara turned their heads. Gaara glared at Sasuke and Sasuke glared back. Naruto grinned welcomingly at them both.

"Hey, Itachi-san! How's your day off?"

"It's fine. Sasuke mentioned finding you and said you and your friend were going to the food court. Mind if we join you?" Itachi suggested.

Sasuke looked at him, his face betraying his disbelief and confusion. Naruto blinked several times before turning to ask Gaara if he minded. Gaara merely shrugged and mumbled something that Itachi couldn't hear. Naruto replied an "Of course Sasuke-kun has to! Itachi-san's his brother! He's not going to ditch him!" Gaara seemed disappointed. To Itachi, it looked like Gaara didn't like Sasuke either.

"Sure, you guys can come!" Naruto said happily, but Itachi caught the uncertainty in his eyes.

God, was Naruto a damn good actor or what? Maybe he should go into the acting business. He was handsome enough for it.

-

Naruto attempted to speak with Sasuke and Itachi as much as possible and include Gaara at the same time, but seeing that Gaara didn't speak much, that was hard. Itachi couldn't blame the kid for trying; Naruto must've felt a little bit like he was pressuring his best friend and his best friend's brother onto his new friend. It reminded him of when Obito was trying to hang out with Kakashi and include Itachi like his parents wanted him to at the same time.

"So, you're Gaara," Itachi said.

Gaara looked up from his book and looked at him rather tiredly.

"Do you have any siblings?"

"Yes."

"How many?" Two, you're going to have two.

"Two."

"Do you have a mother and father?" No, you don't have a mother but you do have a father.

"Just Father."

"What do your siblings look like?"

"Why are you asking?"

"I'm just curious. Sometimes sources of information are biased."

Gaara raised an eyebrow at Itachi. (Itachi couldn't see the eyebrow because of the eye-liner, but the face muscles portrayed the same expression.)

"My sister is blonde and wears lavender-and-black everything. My brother is a brunet and everything he wears gets torn up. Now leave me alone."

Gaara hid his face behind his book again. Sasuke and Naruto had stopped talking and stared at Gaara in surprise and, in Naruto's case, awe. He just told a cop to leave him alone, and said it quite rudely. Itachi didn't really care, though. He had what he needed to know. He just needed to see his siblings in person.

-

Red Roses2: Told you things were getting interesting. Why does Itachi want to know more about Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro? Review, share your thoughts, and keep reading. And read my other fiction "Key to the Cage" while you're at it. It's a NejiNaru. 


	5. Chapter 5

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. There's going to be more of Itachi in this one.

-

"ALL RIGHT! TIME TO LET YOUR YOUTHFUL ENERGY GO WILD!" Gai-sensei said, once again clad in his green spandex.

One would think that he could be content with scarring everyone's eyes by wearing that suit. But no, he wanted another torture technique. The gym clothes that all the students had to wear were green spandex and orange leg warmers with weights. So, on the track and in the gym, everyone wore the horrible color.

Gaara stared at the outfit long and hard.

"I'm not wearing this," he said calmly, shoving it back into his gym locker.

"But you have to, Gaara! It's required!" Naruto said, waving his arms around. "Even I have to wear it, and it's not like my dad can't just come and say, 'Gai-sensei, I'm afraid I must insist that my son not be forced to wear the gym outfit'! Come on! It's only fair!"

"Since when has the world been fair?" Gaara asked.

Naruto frowned at the vague reference to the Yashamaru incident, as Naruto had secretly dubbed it.

"Come on, Gaara, on some people it doesn't look AS bad," Naruto continued.

Gaara looked at Naruto and looked him up and down. It didn't look HORRIBLE on Naruto. Hell, it might've looked better on Naruto than it did on Gai-sensei, the one who invented the fashion style. It also looked better on Rock Lee than it did Gai-sensei. Gaara looked at the outfit again, and he glanced at Naruto again.

"Even Sasuke has to wear it!" Naruto added in an attempt to get him to do it.

Naruto promised himself to never use Gaara's and Sasuke's dislike of the other to make Gaara do something ever again.

Gaara thought long and hard, then he nodded.

-

"There you two are! What took you so long? Now, because of your tardiness, you both have to run two thousand laps!" Gai-sensei announced.

Gaara raised an eyebrow. He didn't know how he was going to do that. He felt really uncomfortable in this outfit. It clung to every curve on his body and every inch of skin. He was thankful that it couldn't stick to his cotton boxers, however.

"What are you waiting for? Go, go!" Gai-sensei said.

"What? Gaara's new! Does he really have to run that much?" Naruto complained. 

"Just because his gym classes started later than everyone else's doesn't mean that he gets to slack off. Now go!"

Naruto grumbled to himself as he and Gaara started their laps.

Thirty minutes later

Gaara fell to his knees, perspiration dripping off of him like a waterfall. He tried to catch his breath, but that seemed impossible, like he suddenly developed asthma. He didn't think he did, though.

Naruto backtracked to where Gaara collapsed.

"Hey, you okay?" Naruto asked, knelling down to take a better look at his friend.

Gaara looked up at Naruto, wondering how he could still be going. In response to Naruto's question, Gaara shook his head no. Slowly, the whole world went black.

-

"This is why you don't make the new kid do so many laps, Gai-sensei!" screamed a voice Gaara didn't recognize.

"We're sorry. Only Kankuro and I really had to do any type of strenuous exercise back in Sunagakure. Gaara was actually home-schooled, you see, and Dad and Uncle Yashamaru would hardly let him outside the house," said Temari's voice.

Gaara opened an eye and saw Naruto and Kankuro hovering over him.

"Hey, li'l bro," Kankuro greeted. "How are you doing?"

"My head hurts," Gaara grumbled, sitting up.

Gaara realized his surroundings looked like a school nurse's office.

"What happened?" Gaara muttered.

"Well, apparently, you shouldn't sweat that much," Naruto said, handing him a water bottle.

Gaara took it and unscrewed the top. When he was done with the bottle, he lowered it from his face and looked at Kankuro who looked like he had just seen his little brother do something amazing.

"What?" Gaara asked.

"Nothing, it's just that . . . I've never seen you swallow that much before. You're the one with the small appetite, remember?" Kankuro commented.

Gaara grunted and threw the empty bottle away. Gaara looked over to the side and saw Temari talking with the school nurse (he didn't know her name) and Gai-sensei. Gai-sensei looked sincerely worried. Temari looked over at her littlest brother, squealed happily, ran over, and gave Gaara the hug of doom.

"You're okay!" Temari exclaimed.

"Temari . . . can't . . . breathe. . . ," Gaara managed out.

"Oh! Sorry!" Temari said, letting Gaara go. "I just hate it when anyone in the family lands himself in the hospital or the nurse's office in this case. You know that!"

Gaara nodded while checking to see if any ribs were broken.

"I think I'm fine. What time is it?" Gaara said.

"It's actually the end of school already. One more month of it and it's winter break," Naruto said, glancing at his watch. "I'm supposed to be home by now. Promised Dad. See you later!"

Naruto gave Gaara a quick hug and ran out of the nurse's office. Gaara sat there, stunned. He blinked several times and his usually pale cheeks turned pink. Temari saw the blush and giggled while Kankuro just looked at the doorway then looked back at Gaara, looking confused.

"Aw, does Gaara-nii-chan have a boyfriend?" Temari asked teasingly.

Gaara glared at her, his cheeks still pink.

"No," he answered coldly, getting out of the bed. "Can I get out of this horrid outfit now?"

-

Kankuro kept an eye on Gaara all the way home. That blushing had been a bit weird, but personally, Kankuro thought that Temari had gone a little far saying that Gaara had a boyfriend. Gaara never opened up to anyone, not even his siblings, ever since Yashamaru's death. He really doubted that some kid who wasn't in the family would be able to get him to open up so much. Maybe it was just a crush if he felt that way at all? Maybe he just didn't like being hugged in public. That last one was probably it.

They reached the house and Temari opened the door.

"We're home!" Temari said, hoping that their father was home.

Naturally, he wasn't. He hardly ever was. Kankuro and Temari walked in, but Gaara stopped in the doorway. Kankuro turned around.

"What's the matter, Gaara?" Kankuro asked.

"Why was the door unlocked?" Gaara said.

Temari had gone ahead of them. Kankuro raised an eyebrow at Gaara.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm the one with the key today. It was Temari who opened the door. Meaning that the door was already unlocked. And Father's not here. Meaning that someone that we don't know is in there."

Kankuro's eyes widened.

"TEMARI!"

Kankuro and Gaara ran ahead inside. Kankuro took out a pocketknife from his pocket, and Gaara grabbed a knife from the kitchen counter. Kankuro ran up the stairs while Gaara stayed on the ground floor. Gaara's eyes trailed off to their father's study door. There was a silhouette on the door's window.

-

Kankuro checked all the rooms upstairs. No one was there. He did scare Temari by barging into her room with a knife out, though. Because of that, Temari was now walking with him with a special fan in hand. The fan was actually made of metal and the edges were extremely sharp.

"The intruder must be on the ground floor," Kankuro announced, then slowly added, "with Gaara."

Temari and Kankuro looked at each other for two seconds, then ran down the stairs, just in time to hear a gun shot and hurried footsteps.

"GAARA!" Temari and Kankuro yelled, turning a corner.

The sound of the front door being slammed echoed through the house. Temari and Kankuro ran into the hall and saw an open study door and Gaara, lying on the ground, unconscious, and bleeding all over the wood floor.

"Call an ambulance!" Kankuro exclaimed.

Temari nodded and dashed to the phone.

"And call the police while you're at it!" Kankuro added, knelling down next to his brother, ripping off part of his jacket so he could stop some of the bleeding.

-

"Hello, Konoha Police Force. Mitarashi Anko speaking," said the purple-haired cop.

She blinked at the rapid talking. It sounded like a teenaged girl of fifteen or sixteen.

"Woah, woah, slow down there. I can't understand you."

Anko listened to the incident. She gathered that someone had broken into their house, they came home from school, the person was in their father's office, the girl's younger brother found him and he was shot.

"Okay, I'll send a car or two right away. Hey, Itachi! Obito!" Anko yelled.

Itachi and Obito walked into her office.

"Yes?" they said in unison.

"There's a break-in case at 2895 Shodaime Drive. There was also a shooting. The youngest of three kids got shot. An ambulance is already on its way, the girl said," Anko reported.

Obito nodded and ran down the halls to get his partner and go. Itachi, however, stayed behind.

"Isn't that where the family from Sunagakure moved in?" Itachi asked.

"Uh, yeah, I think so. Why? You think it has something to do with Sunagakure?"

"Yes. A mafia boss is supposed to be in town. I think it's their father. If it is, then we'll finally be able to catch Wind Shadow. The problem with that idea, though, is why would he be here unless there was a big problem. The only human-like quality I've seen Wind Shadow possess is an attachment to his children. Meaning if something in Sunagakure has gotten so dangerous he'd rather risk getting caught than let his children die, we actually have bigger problems."

"Well, whatever. You have to go now!" Anko said, shooing Itachi away. "Okay, kid, the police are on their way. What's your name, anyway?"

"Temari."

"And your brother's?"

"Well, Gaara's the one who got shot, but there's also Kankuro who's taking care of him right now. When's that ambulance getting here?"

"Soon, Temari, trust me. It's only going to take them a few more minutes. Is your brother trying to stop Gaara's bleeding?"

"Yes."

"Then you're doing great. Just hold on."

-

Itachi's and Obito's police cars arrived after the ambulance departed with Gaara. Obito and Kakashi emerged from one and Itachi and Arashi from the other. Temari and Kankuro stood on the porch, looking stressed-out, worried, and depressed.

"What took you so long?" Temari demanded once they approached them. "It was bad enough the bastard could get away before we could even see what happened to Gaara! He could be anywhere right now! It's been hours!"

Temari suddenly broke down into tears. Kankuro patted her on the back.

"It's okay, Gaara's going to be fine. He's a tough kid," Kankuro comforted.

"But he's never had any wounds before!" Temari exclaimed. "If it was you or me, we'd be fine! But, Gaara . . . Gaara . . . ."

Sobs overtook words. Itachi and Kakashi looked at each other, both thankful for Obito's and Arashi's gifted talents of dealing with teenagers and children.

"I know this is hard for both of you, but we need a complete story about what happened. If you can give us any hints on who would do this, that would be good. Itachi, Kakashi, and Obito will be looking for any clues in the house, such as fingerprints. In the meantime, I need you two to work with me, okay?"

Temari and Kankuro nodded.

"Hey, aren't you Naruto's dad?" Kankuro asked suddenly.

Arashi blinked. He didn't expect to be asked that.

"Yes, yes I am."

"Naruto's actually been hanging out with Gaara lately . . . ." Kankuro said, wondering why he brought this subject up in the first place. "Anyway, here's what happened."

-

Itachi, Kakashi, and Obito walked into the hall where the study was. Obito made a face.

"Man, that's a lot of blood. To think it came out of a twelve-year-old."

"Just look for fingerprints and stuff," Kakashi reminded Obito, pulling on rubber gloves; Itachi did the same.

They dusted for fingerprints for two whole hours. Kakashi found lots of guns in the drawers along with blank papers and some pens. All of the guns had no identifications on it to suggest that the burglar used it. If anything, they were all the father's. Kakashi assumed that, if one was to live in Sunagakure, that one would have to have so many guns. Obito and Itachi couldn't find anything.

"Looks like we'll have to ask Gaara if he lives," Itachi said, walking out of the office first.

Obito made another face as Itachi walked through the bloody mess.

"I swear . . . ." Obito said, but what he swore only Kakashi knew because he whispered whatever it was to him.

Kakashi nodded and shrugged.

"What can we do about it? He's second-in-command," Kakashi reminded.

Obito pouted.

"Still, he can at least leave the crime scene completely the way it was."

"That's only so detectives can find clues. We are the detectives, and we searched for clues. There are none here, so he can do whatever he wants with the blood. Hopefully, those kids plan on cleaning it."

"Kakashi-koi!"

Kakashi flinched. Obito only used his pet name when he was either aroused or upset. Currently, he was obviously upset.

"If I was shot, I wouldn't want the police walking in MY blood!" Obito pointed out as he carefully walked around the red pool.

Kakashi sighed. Obito sometimes stressed him out.

"While we're on the subject," Obito continued; Kakashi's shoulders slumped in an obvious sign of being tired, whether physically or emotionally, "I don't think his siblings want us to be walking in his blood either. If I was shot, would you want people walking in mine?"

Obito turned his head to Kakashi expectantly. Kakashi thought about it for a moment.

"No, no I wouldn't," Kakashi answered.

"Thought so," Obito said.

"Are you guys coming or what?" Itachi called. "We're finished here."

Obito grumbled to himself as he walked toward Itachi. Kakashi looked at the pool of blood in front of him. Avoiding it by walking around it would be too troublesome, seeing how big the pool was. He couldn't walk through it now because Obito would know and then yell at him. He made a few hand signs that he remembered from Arashi's police training, disappeared in a puff of smoke, and reappeared a little ways down the hall, far away from the blood. He thanked Kami-sama for the invention of ninjustu. Too bad it was against the law to use it often.

-

Gaara woke up, the white color of a hospital temporarily blinding him. He blinked a few times and his eyes adjusted.

"Glad to see that you're awake."

Gaara sat up and turned his head so fast his neck cracked. His eyes landed on a man with spiky black hair and goggles over his eyes. He wore a headband over the left side of his goggles; the headband was adorned with the Konoha symbol, a leaf. His visible iris was a dark color, almost blending in with his pupil. His skin was pale, like Uchiha Sasuke's. His face was remarkably similar to Sasuke's. Same cheekbones, same mouth, same nose, same ears, the only thing that differed was his eye.

"Who are you?" Gaara asked, moving to take out his concealed knife.

"It's not there," said the man, holding up Gaara's knife. "I'm not going to hurt you anyway. Arashi-sempai says that you're a friend of his son, and besides, I'm just here to ask a few questions. My name is Uchiha Obito, and I'm part of the Konoha Police Force. I'm one of the four investigating the break-in of your house and the attempted murder which you are the victim of."

Gaara stared at the man long and hard.

"You're related to Uchiha Sasuke?" Gaara asked.

Obito's expression went from professional to informally confused.

"Yes, but I'm related rather distantly. Sasuke's my . . . uh, third cousin? Or is it fifth?" Obito said, then shrugged. "Whatever. Can you tell me in your own words what happened at 7:30 pm at Shodaime Drive yesterday?"

Gaara informed him with the smallest amount of words possible.

"Can you describe your assaulter?" Obito asked.

"Black hair, wore a mask over half of his face, no shirt, army arm-warmers, a seat-belt-like thing."

"What was his skin color? I think I know who this is already, but I need to be sure."

Gaara thought for a long time.

"It was an odd tan. It looked like a grayish bluish tan," Gaara said, then after a minute, added, "which I didn't know was possible."

Obito nodded. Yes, that was definitely Momochi Zabuza, meaning that someone else wanted something from the building. Knowing that the father was from Sunagakure could mean anyone from a petty thief to a gigantic mobster.

"Thanks, kid. Hey, Temari-chan! Kankuro-kun! You two can come in now!" Obito called as he exited, waving good-bye to Gaara as he left.

Gaara watched him leave. He didn't seem that bad. Maybe there were good cops.

"Gaara-nii-chan!" Temari exclaimed, trapping Gaara in a Vulcan Death Grip, alias Hug of Doom.

"He can't breathe, Temari-nee-san," Kankuro informed, sitting down in Obito's former seat. "How'ya doing, Gaara-nii-chan?"

"Fine," Gaara said as he leaned back into the pillow. "My head just hurts."

"That's because the doctor said the guy shot you . . . in the . . . head," Kankuro admitted, looking at his shoes.

Gaara's eyes widened. What did he say?

"The doctor said that the bullet's stuck in your skull, so there's no brain damage, but they need to do surgery to get it out and reconstruct your skull so the fragments won't cause any damage or bleeding. He said that if they don't do it, the bullet might get dislodged and harm your brain or skull fragments might cause - ."

"Stop it, Kankuro! I don't want to hear all of that again!" Temari interrupted.

"He has to know what's wrong, Temari!" Kankuro retorted.

"Shut up both of you. You're making the headache worse," Gaara interrupted, lifting a hand to hold his head.

"The doctor said no one should touch your head until after the surgery. You can request some pain meds, though," Kankuro said, looking at his shoes again; he had looked up to yell at Temari.

Gaara took all of the information in. He told Kankuro to continue and he did. The skull fragments might cause dysfunctional thinking and/or paralysis or a bunch of other things. Gaara sighed and closed his eyes. What the hell has he gotten into now?

-

Red Roses2: Did everyone else know it was Zabuza? I hope so, because it was a little obvious on who it was. You know the drill. Read, review/flame/praise/critique. 


	6. Chapter 6

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

-

Naruto sat next to Gaara's bed and talked about what happened in school that day.

"Gai-sensei was being impossible as usual today. I think he still thinks we're all in Feudal Japan or something just because almost everyone in this town is descendants of some sort of ninja. The homework is, like, a mountain high! I pity you when you have to do all that homework by the time you get out of here," Naruto said.

Gaara smirked slightly at the thought of spending the few weeks after being discharged doing nothing but homework. It gave him something to do, that's for sure. The red-head winced slightly.

"Naruto, can you quiet down some? My head still hurts," Gaara muttered.

Gaara immediately wished he hadn't said anything because Naruto started freaking out and was about to go yelling for a nurse and morphine.

"It's not that bad. Just keep it down, okay?" Gaara said, trying to make him calm down.

But it was nice to know someone cared about him this much. Well, someone who wasn't related to him. Temari was almost suffocating at times, but it was understandable. Kankuro was more laid-back, but sometimes Gaara wondered if Kankuro was afraid of him at all. Whenever Gaara was in a mood or something, Kankuro always started getting nervous, like his little brother was going to do something unexpected and harmful. He frowned a little.

"Hey, what's wrong, Gaara-kun?" Naruto asked in an almost-whisper.

"Nothing," Gaara lied.

Naruto frowned.

"All right."

Gaara could tell Naruto didn't believe him. They stayed quiet for a while, Naruto fidgeting a little. Gaara looked out of his hospital window. His operation was in a few hours. He glanced at Naruto and wondered if he should mention it to him. Only Kankuro, Temari, and his father knew about the operation he needed to fix his skull. Because there were so many other critical patients, Gaara's surgery had been bumped a few times. The red-head wondered what the blond's reaction would be to it.

"Naruto-kun," Gaara said, but he stopped at the look on the blond's face.

For the split second before Naruto looked up and spread a smile across his face, he looked upset, unhappy, maybe even . . . no, not depressed. Depressed people couldn't even force a smile on their face . . . could they?

"What's wrong?" Gaara asked instead of his earlier question.

"Ah, it's nothing, Gaara-kun! Sasuke and I just aren't speaking to each other right now, that's all."

Gaara blinked and waited a few minutes before inquiring again.

"Why are you not speaking to each other?" the red-head asked.

Naruto's smile faltered and a flash of sadness and guilt crossed his eyes. Gaara raised an eyebrow at that.

"It's not too big of a deal. He'll get over it," Naruto said, suddenly finding his shoes to be very interesting.

Gaara didn't press it. It wasn't like he cared about the Uchiha. He just cared about Naruto. Whatever it was, Naruto probably was fine.

-

Temari walked toward the hospital dressed in the all-black outfit she usually didn't wear. She decided to wear it that day just in case. Kankuro said he was going to be at the hospital later that day. Temari knew that he wanted to get their father there in time for Gaara's operation. She wiped away the tears. She kept reminding herself that Gaara was going to be fine. He had been through worse stuff than this. She just couldn't think of any of them.

"Hey! Temari-chan!" shouted a familiar voice.

Temari turned around, forced a smile on her face, and waved.

"Hi Lee-kun!" Temari replied.

Lee ran up to her, Neji in toe.

"We were just about to go to the hospital to give Gaara-san a visit," said Lee.

Neji didn't say anything, but he did nod. Temari raised an eyebrow at the frustrated look on his face. They walked toward the hospital in relative silence. Only the occasional "how are you?" and "I'm fine" and "what about you?" broke the silence. They reached the hospital in a relatively short time. They reached the elevator and pressed the up button. Temari tapped her food impatiently. Lee fidgeted a little, and Neji kept completely still, glancing at Lee periodically and occasionally at Temari. The elevator doors finally opened and they made their way to Gaara's floor.

Several minutes later, they reached Gaara's room, Temari picked up her pace, and almost ran into Naruto who was exiting Gaara's room.

"Gah! Temari!"

"Naruto, where are you going? Aren't you going to stay for - ?"

"Temari, shut up," said Gaara's voice from inside.

Temari raised an eyebrow, but she decided not to honor her brother's request and completed her sentence.

"Gaara's operation? It's in a few hours."

"What! It is?" Naruto exclaimed.

Neji rolled his eyes.

"Yes, it is," Temari said slowly as though Naruto was slow on the uptake.

The next few minutes were spent by Naruto fuming and wondering why Gaara didn't tell him and Gaara glaring at Temari.

As Temari's visit continued, Lee disappeared somewhere. Temari didn't ask Neji where he went until after the doctors took Gaara away to the operating room. She, Neji, and Naruto were sent to the waiting room.

"Neji-kun, where's Lee-kun?" Temari asked.

Neji sighed and looked at Temari, his pupil-less eyes piercing through her. She tilted her head to the side, wondering why he seemed so serious about the subject.

"Gaara isn't the only reason he's here," Neji said, sitting down and crossing his arms. "He doesn't like talking about it, either. Both of his parents are alcoholics, but his mother's worse. She ended up completely ruining her liver and is currently in this hospital. The doctors say that if she'll go to AA meetings and stop drinking, they'll give her a new liver, but she doesn't want to stop drinking, so Lee's stuck with waiting until she dies. He comes here everyday just to make sure she's still alive."

Neji waited for this information to sink into Temari and Naruto who had decided to listen in. Naruto stared up at the ceiling with an awed look on his face and Temari looked at the ground, her face full of surprise.

"His visits usually don't go well, either. She's not the best mother in the world. He won't talk about it, but it's rumored among those who know that she didn't even want to have any children. I say it's bullshit and that she's just mad she can't get any booze in the hospital," Neji finished, looking over at Temari.

The blonde frowned. They sat there in silence for a while. Lee arrived in the waiting room thirty minutes later and the four of them waited. Temari kept glancing at her watch and glancing at the door. After an hour, she stood up, walked to the door and stomped her foot huffily.

"Where is Kankuro? He's supposed to be here by now!" Temari said, crossing her arms. "He was supposed to get Dad, but it couldn't take this long!"

"Where does your dad work? Maybe I can bring him back here," Lee suggested.

"He's probably lost. You guys have only been here a few months," Neji guessed.

Naruto just shrugged and looked at his watch too.

"Damn it. Guys, I'll be right back. I have to call my dad and tell him I'll be late for dinner and why," Naruto said and he left to find a phone.

-

Kankuro sighed as he leaned against a brick wall. He had dropped by the bank where his father had said he worked, but the people at the bank said they had never met the man. After that, he just walked into random stores asking if he worked there, and they all said no. He looked at his watch. It was six thirty-five. Temari was going to murder him for being so late, but he couldn't help it.

Suddenly, a brilliant idea hit him. He could call his dad on his cell phone! That would be a good thing to do. He could also ask where he was and why he had lied about working at the bank. Kankuro pulled out his cell phone, turned it on, and started dialing his father's phone number. He waited for it to ring, and it did, but there was a second ring very nearby. Kankuro looked to his right and heard the ring from the other line and the second ring again. He walked over to where the second ring was coming from and looked down the alleyway. He quickly terminated the call. His father was standing in an alleyway with some strange-looking guy with long black hair and extremely pale skin. They were whispering, and Kankuro could barely hear his father saying "sorry about that. It sometimes happens. Now, is there any way that we can avoid it happening ever again?" Kankuro didn't know he meant the phone ringing or something else, but the pale-skinned man gave a low laugh.

"Why so anxious? Though I am wondering why Zabuza would target his number one customer, I'm more concerned about where that boy of his is. We haven't seen him around, and he didn't show up to help you move, now did he?"

"No, he didn't, but I'm not complaining about it. It would've been hard to explain if any of my children saw that someone around Gaara's age was helping me with my 'work'."

"Difficult or not, he still is a valuable asset to our plans. But, what are you going to do about Water Shadow, boss?"

"I'm thinking, Orochimaru, but I can't think of anything. I don't even know who this Water Shadow is, and that's saying something considering that I'm – well, you know."

"You've been more secretive that usual. No one's around to hear you."

"Well, I thought that no sexual harm would come to any of my children, let alone Gaara, if I just kept you and everyone else like you away from them, but you know what happened that made us move."

"I'm flattered you think I'm such a danger. But the fact that his body is missing is rather disconcerting."

"I know. Dead people just don't get up and walk away."

"Unless he wasn't dead."

"Do you really think he can fake death that well?"

"My associates have done it time to time when necessary. It's merely a manipulation of the pulse. Doctors have been known to do it as well."

"Okay, okay. Now, I can't stay here any longer. Temari will be concerned about where I am, and knowing Kankuro, he's probably looking for me somewhere. I just hope he hasn't already found out that my banking job's a lie."

"Oh yes, the youngest's operation is today. Speaking of the dear red-head, do his siblings know about his - ?"

"No, Gaara doesn't like having personal things just thrown out there. Kankuro and Temari tend to have big mouths in addition to that, so it was just a bad idea."

"By the way you go on about Gaara, you'd think he'd be your successor in the business."

Kankuro's father sighed.

"Goodbye Orochimaru-san."

"Goodbye Wind Shadow."

Kankuro ran in the opposite direction. His father was the head of the Mafia?

-

Red Roses2: Sorry it took so long, and sorry if it's a little boring this time. You know the reviewing drill. 


	7. Chapter 7

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

-

Rain fell from the sky in heavy droplets. The rain pounded on the pavement and Kankuro's head. Lighting clashed and thunder sounded, creating the opera of the sky. Kankuro jumped as a car crash occurred near him, sending someone straight through its windshield. The person landed in front of Kankuro, blood flowing onto the sidewalk. Kankuro stood there, panting. He stepped around the body that seemed to still be alive from the moaning the person made. He then dashed down the sidewalk again. He took out his cell phone and dialed an ambulance.

"Hey, there was a car crash down the road on . . . Sakura Highway. There's someone who's bleeding really bad. I don't know about the others. Sorry, I have to hang up. Just remember: it's on Sakura Highway."

Kankuro hung up and continued running. He had to find the police station. He didn't know what he was going to tell them, but he couldn't just keep the fact that a mafia head was in Konoha, could he?"

Well, he could. It was his father.

But the mafia had been responsible for so much bloodshed and rape and kidnappings in Suna. He couldn't just stand by and let the same happen to Konoha!

But it was his father. His father wouldn't purposefully let that happen to anyone, would he? He loved Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara after all. And none of that happened to them.

But hadn't his father mentioned sexual harm coming to Gaara? And something about a corpse not being in its coffin?

Wait . . . .

Kankuro stopped in his tracks. Uncle Yashamaru was dead. After his death, they had moved. His father said that they had moved because of . . . . Kankuro fell down, landed on his rear, and stared up at the raging sky above. No way. There was no way. Uncle Yashamaru would never . . . . The guy was practically their baby-sitter, their body guard, their friend. He wouldn't . . . . But, wouldn't that explain the blood in Gaara's room and Yashamaru's sudden death in the first place? No! It had to be a coincidence! It had to be! A lot of horrible things happened in Suna. It had to be a coincidence. Right?

Tears mixed with rain on the ground as the reality of the situation gave him the biggest blow he had ever taken. His father really was a mafia head. His little brother was dealing with more than just their uncle's death. His uncle was dead, but might not really be dead, and might also be his brother's rapist. The family was coming apart. But was it ever stable? Why was this happening? What did he do? What did Temari do? What did Gaara do? What did they do to deserve this? Kankuro lay down on the sidewalk, the raindrops pounding on Kankuro's face, inflicting pain. He closed his eyes, hoping that this was all a bad dream and that they would be back home, Gaara wouldn't have been shot, Temari would be planning another party, and his father would come home with some co-worker from the bank for dinner and make them all act polite and civilized. Like a normal family.

-

Temari, Neji, Naruto, and Lee had fallen asleep by the time Gaara's surgery was over. The nurse shook Temari awake and smiled warmly at her.

"Your brother's surgery went well and it's all over now. You can go visit him in his room if you'd like. But just one visitor at a time, please," said the nurse.

Temari nodded, rubbed the sleep away from her eyes and walked toward Gaara's room. Her movements woke Lee and Neji, but a clap of thunder woke Naruto up from his dreams.

Temari smiled at her little brother. Bandages covered his head and he seemed a little groggy, but other than that, he seemed perfectly okay. She couldn't hold it in any longer. She tackle-hugged her little brother and said, very loudly, "I love you, little brother!"

Ten minutes after she said that, Temari and Gaara's father appeared, apologizing for being late and asking how it went. He shook hands with Lee, Neji, and Naruto (who also tackle-hugged Gaara). Then Naruto started rambling about the times when his dad needed bullets removed and when he reached the infections-part of his story, Temari hit him in the head and told him to shut up. Gaara smirked. Neji shook his head. Lee grinned, and Naruto whined that he was just saying what had happened. Temari's father sighed and said that Gaara might be tired and made them all leave.

"We'll come back tomorrow and check up on him," he assured Temari. "By the way, where's Kankuro?"

"He probably completely forgot and is at home wondering where we are or something else completely stupid," Temari said as they walked home.

But Kankuro wasn't there. Temari shrugged and suggested that he might still be looking for him. Her father made some calls to see if Kankuro had been at the bank. They said yes, but that had been hours ago. He called some other places and asked if they had seen Kankuro. They all said the same thing or that they had never seen a boy like that. He sighed and called the police, saying that he couldn't find his son and that it wasn't like him to just disappear. Temari frowned. This didn't sound good. Her father and she ate their dinner alone and Temari went to bed worried. She had nightmares of Kankuro being kidnapped, then tortured, then murdered, and other horrible things that could've happened. She woke up repeatedly during the night.

-

Genma and Hayate drove down the street, complaining about some of the things that had happened in the police office today. They still wore their officer badges. They drove on Sakura Highway.

"Can you believe Itachi has the nerve to do any of that? Even Kakashi was mad that time!" Genma said, the toothpick sticking out from between his teeth.

"Yeah, I know. Hey, what's that up ahead?" Hayate asked between coughs. 

"Looks like the car crash that happened yesterday."

"No, I mean on the sidewalk."

Genma looked on the sidewalk and his eyes widened.

"Ah man. Is that the missing kid that we'd been looking for all day?"

"Looks like it. Same hair and clothes."

"How long has he been out here?"

"Don't know."

Genma pulled over and they stepped out of the car. Hayate knelt down and checked his pulse and temperature.

"By the looks of it, he's been out here since the rain yesterday. We should probably take him to the hospital in case he has hypothermia."

"Good idea. I'll call Anko and say that we found him."

"'Kay. Mind if I take the car?"

"All right. Just come back for me."

"Don't I always?"

-

The phone rang. Temari answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Temari-chan, this is Anko-sempai from the police force. We found your brother. Turns out he was out cold on the street. Hayate-sempai took him to the hospital to make sure he's medically fine. The details are a little fuzzy, but I think he fell asleep in the rain yesterday."

"Argh! That sounds just like him! Just wait until he gets home! I'm gonna - !"

"Ha! I'd hate to be him. But, not that I don't like talking to you, I'd prefer it if you'd stop needing to call the police, okay?"

"It's not my fault my brothers can't keep themselves out of harm's way. Goodbye, Anko-sempai."

"See ya."

-

Red Roses2: That's all I've got for now. Next chapter will have romance, I promise. Whether it will be Kankuro's, Temari's, or Gaara's, I don't know, but I have some juicy stuff in store for the NaruGaa. 


	8. Chapter 8

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, Gaara or Neji (I can't make up my mind some times) would be dating Naruto, Kiba and Shino would be dating also, Temari would date Lee, Kakashi and Obito would've dated and Obito would have possibly been alive, and all sorts of other stuff that isn't in the show. This takes place sometime after Gaara gets out of the hospital. 

-

Gaara stood waiting for Naruto in the hallway. Gaara was back at school, actually finished all of his homework, and currently was about to be late for P.E., not that he actually cared. He'd skip the class if he was allowed to.

What WAS taking Naruto so long? Gaara walked down the hall. Did it really take that long to use the restroom? The red-head stepped up to the bathroom door and was about to open it when Naruto came out, looking flustered and angry. Gaara blinked repeatedly.

"Are you okay?" Gaara asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's just go to P.E," Naruto said, moving around Gaara and dashing down the hallway.

Gaara looked back at the bathroom. Sasuke emerged from it, saw Gaara and glared. The red-head glared back. The red-head thought about the situation for a bit and his glare changed from dislike to angry.

"What did you do to Naruto?" he asked.

Sasuke grunted and made to move around Gaara.

BAM!

Sasuke fell to the floor, surprised that the red-head punched him.

"What did you to do Naruto?" Gaara repeated.

The dark-blue-haired boy glared, hopped up, and stood in one of the fighting stances Gai-sensei taught them.

"I should be asking you that," Sasuke growled.

Gaara narrowed his eyes, shifting his feet to the proper positions.

"Why's that?"

"Ever since you came here, Naruto's been acting different. He's not the same Naruto. And it's all your fault."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Sasuke ran forward and threw a punch. Gaara dodged and round-housed kicked him in the stomach. Sasuke stumbled, but managed a turn-back hook kick. It threw Gaara off balance, giving Sasuke the perfect moment. He bombarded Gaara with punches. Gaara got down to the ground and tripped him. The blue-haired boy fell to the ground as the red-head stood back up. Sasuke stood back up with the assistance of a back flip. Punch, block, kick, dodge, punch, dodge, trip, hop up, kick, block, kick, dodge, punch, block, kick, block. It went on for the duration of the P.E. Gaara was missing. Sasuke landed another punch on Gaara's jaw. The red-head launched a punch, but at the last moment, he unclenched his fist and grabbed Sasuke around the neck. He re-clenched his fingers and Sasuke began struggling to pry his fingers off.

"What did you do to Naruto?" Gaara said, his voice low and deadly.

Sasuke gasped for breath, trying desperately to remove the other's hand. The red-head only clenched harder. Memories of similar situations flew through Gaara's head. Nine-year-old Temari being choked by some random guy on the street. Kankuro's throat being stepped on by a gunman. His own neck trapped in Yashamaru's hand that first time. The stranger outside his window being suffocated by someone who came up from behind. His father choking someone who had broken in . . . .

"Gaara!"

The red-head snapped out of his thoughts, recognized the voice, and let go of Sasuke. Sasuke fell to the floor, gasping for breath. Gaara turned around and relaxed his glare as he saw Temari standing down the hall, Neji, Lee, and Tenten standing behind her. Tenten's hand covered her mouth. Lee's jaw had dropped, and so had Neji's but not as noticeably.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Temari shouted.

Gaara crossed his arms.

"He did something to Naruto," the red-head muttered; after thinking, he added, "And he attacked me first."

Temari sighed, "Well, it's over now. Go to your next, class, Gaara-nii-chan, okay?"

Gaara nodded and walked away. Temari knelt down next to Sasuke.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

Sasuke coughed into his hand.

"Do you need to be taken to the nurse's office?"

Sasuke shook his head.

"Okay. Do you need help going to your next class?"

He shook his head again as he stood up.

"Okay then. Sorry about Gaara. See you around."

Temari walked back to Neji, Lee, and Tenten.

"What the heck was that about?" Tenten asked.

Temari shrugged.

"I can ask Gaara for a full narration later." Temari reasoned. "Come on, it's time to go to our next class."

-

Kankuro paced up and down. He stood outside of the police station. He was also supposed to be in class at this moment.

Did he want to go in? Did he really want to tell on Dad? Did he need to tell anyone about Gaara? Did he want to risk the possibility of loosing his dad, possibly forever? The risk of going from foster family to foster family and maybe even being separated from Temari and Gaara?

All this thinking hurt Kankuro's head. Why did Dad have to be a mafia head? Why? Kankuro sat down against the gate and hugged his knees. What was he to do? Was he supposed to do anything? Was he going to get into trouble by keeping this a secret? Should he tell Gaara and Temari first? Kankuro buried his face into his knees. Why did this have to happen to him?

"Hey, aren't you Kankuro, Temari's brother?"

Kankuro jumped. He looked up and saw a woman with purple hair in a ponytail.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Anko asked, raising an eyebrow. Were fourteen-year-olds supposed to look that scared?

Kankuro shrunk back as though he was trying to disappear into the gate. Anko's curiosity rose. What was going on to make this kid act like that? Anko looked at her watch. He should've been at school right now. She looked back at the boy.

"Did something bad happen?" Anko asked.

Kankuro didn't answer right away. He nodded.

"I don't know what to do," he said; Anko almost didn't hear it.

"Hey, come on. If you want, I'll take you into the station and get you something to drink, okay?" Anko suggested.

She remembered from her training that, when dealing with kids as victims you have to be gentle with them. Whatever happened, this kid did need some help, so why not act like Obito for a while?

Anko held out her hand and waited for Kankuro to take it. Kankuro hesitated as he reached out, but in the end he took her hand and she led him inside.

-

Gaara, Temari, Tenten, Lee, and Naruto waited for Kankuro. They had been waiting for thirty minutes already.

"What's taking him so long?" Tenten asked, glancing at her watch again.

Temari uncrossed her legs and crossed them again. Naruto was pacing while Lee and Gaara sat on either side of Temari.

"Do you think he played hookie?" Naruto asked, turning to the others.

Temari and Gaara shook their heads.

"It's not like him to play hookie," Temari said, standing up. "I'm going to ask those girls he hangs out with if they've seen him."

"Good luck finding Ino or Sakura. They go shopping after school, and Hinata has a baby-sitting job," Naruto announced.

Temari let out an angry cry. Gaara stood up.

"Hasn't Kankuro been acting a little weird lately?" Gaara asked.

"I guess. Why?" Temari asked.

Gaara closed his eyes.

"Maybe something had happened. Something he doesn't know what to do with it."

Everyone looked at Gaara curiously.

"Like what?" Tenten asked.

Gaara shrugged. Lee thought for a moment.

"Do you think he went to the police station?" Lee questioned.

Temari dropped her things. Everyone looked at her. Lee suddenly wished he hadn't said anything. Temari's face was the epitome of terrified. Tenten laid a hand on Temari's shoulder.

"I'm sure he's fine wherever he is, Temari-chan. Don't worry about it. We'll just check there first. Who knows? He might already be at home," Tenten said, putting on a hopefully convincing smile.

Temari calmed down somewhat.

"Right. That does sound like something the idiot would do," Temari said as she picked up her things.

Gaara shook his head.

-

"So, would you like to tell me what happened now?" Anko asked.

They sat in Anko's office. The phone rang. Anko cursed under her breath as she answered it.

"Hello, Konoha Police Department. This is Mitarashi Anko, how may I help you?" she said into the phone. "Yes, I send someone right away. HEY! HAYATE! I need you to go to Sakura Highway! Someone high-jacked a car and is currently driving on it!"

"Aye, aye, Anko-sempai!" Hayate said, adding a few coughs.

Anko worried about that man's health.

She turned back to Kankuro as she hung up. She smiled sweetly. Kankuro looked down at his cup.

"I – I found out something about my dad . . . . I still can't believe it's real."

"Mm-hm."

"Well - ."

Ring!

Anko picked the phone up.

"Hello, Konoha Police Department. Mitarashi Anko speaking. How may I help you? . . . . . . Yes, I'll send someone right away. OBITO! You and Kakashi have to go stop a robbery that's on Nidaime Street! It's the bank again!"

"We're on it!" came Obito's voice from the office next door.

Anko hung up again.

"Sorry about that. You were saying?"

Kankuro opened his mouth, but the phone rang again. Anko twitched and picked it up.

"Konoha Police Force. What do you need? . . . . . . . . . I'm sorry, but rescuing cats from trees is not our job. Call the fire department."

She hung up. Before she could even tell Kankuro to continue, the phone rang again.

"Konoha Police Force. Yes, I'll send someone right away. ITACHI!"

No reply. She handed the phone to Kankuro.

"Hold this. I'll be right back."

Kankuro took the phone and watched her leave.

"ITACHI!" Anko screeched.

Damn that man! He was never around when he was needed!

"ITACHI, WHERE ARE YOU?" Anko yelled, banging his office door open.

She froze. So did Itachi and Arashi. She rubbed her eyes and pinched herself to make sure her mind was playing tricks on her. They weren't. Itachi really was on top of Arashi-sempai and really had been making-out with him moments before. That son of a bitch.

"Itachi, there's a woman in need of your and Arashi-sempai's assistance at Shika Avenue. It's another murder case. So get off of Arashi-sempai and DO YOUR FREAKING JOB!"

Anko slammed the door so hard it came off its hinges. She stormed back to her office and plopped herself down. She took the phone back.

"Itachi-sempai and Arashi-sempai will be with you shortly."

She hung the phone up with more force than was required. She and Kankuro sat in silence for a few minutes.

"DAMN, I HATE THAT UCHIHA!"

-

Anko stared at Kankuro after he finished. Wow. No wonder he was confused on whether to tell anyone. It was his DAD. And that poor little brother of his. And the kid was trying so hard not to cry in front of her, too.

"Hey, don't worry, kid. We'll figure something out. And, maybe we won't have to throw your dad into jail. There is a thing called probation."

Kankuro nodded and wiped his eyes, saying there "was something stuck in them."

"Now, why don't you go home – study or whatever you do – and I'll figure out what to do from here, okay? Trust me."

Anko smiled brightly. Kankuro nodded.

-

Red Roses2: And inspiration ends there. Oh well. Please review. 


	9. Chapter 9

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

-

Gaara lay sprawled underneath Naruto, the blond kissing the skin on the red-head's neck. Gaara moaned as he felt teeth lightly scrape against his skin. A gasp escaped his mouth as Naruto's tongue licked the side of his neck. The red-head felt teeth sink into his neck. Gaara let out a lustful moan, the syllables of Naruto's name lacing themselves within the animalistic pleas for more. Naruto's hands fumbled with Gaara's shirt as he tried to remove it. Heat radiated from Gaara's groin, and he felt the heat from Naruto's against his thigh.

That's when he woke up. The red-head blinked blurrily. He didn't realize where he was at first. His vision returned and Gaara groaned miserably as he figured out it had been a dream. The heat from his groin was real, though. He just wished that the blond really had been on top of him, leaving vampire marks all over his neck. He sighed and looked at his clock. Seven o'clock on a Sunday morning. It was the weekend. Gaara was tempted to go back to sleep and continue the dream, but unfortunately, the red-head had a tendency to stay awake after he was awoken. He got out of bed, checked the sheets to make sure he didn't have to change them, then went into the bathroom. He didn't come out for a few hours.

After he was finished in there, Gaara returned to his bedroom and flopped onto the bed. His brain could think properly now. Did he really want to have any sort of romantic relationship, imaginary or real, with Naruto? Sure, Gaara did have a crush on him and Naruto was just awesome, but there was still the fact that Gaara, despite having wet dreams, didn't feel comfortable with the idea of having sex yet. In the one dream that had even come close to Gaara having his jeans removed, even Dream Gaara started freaking out and asking Naruto to stop. Dream Naruto acted a lot like Real Naruto and backed off immediately and started apologizing profusely. It was rather sad, actually. At least Gaara thought it was sad. He sighed and decided to get ready for the day. Naruto had asked him if he wanted to go to this book signing at the mall. The blond had said something about the author being one of his favorites and that he was sure Gaara would like his stories too. The red-head couldn't remember the author's name, though.

-

Gaara knocked on the door, hoping it was the right apartment room. The door opened and Arashi stood in the doorway. The man's hair was in disarray, his robe was horribly wrinkled and oddly soaking wet, and he seemed rather groggy. Gaara sniffed the air. The robe was drenched in sweat?

"Hello. Uh, who are you again?" Arashi asked rubbing sleep from his eye.

"Gaara. Naruto invited me."

A lightbulb must've gone off in Arashi's head.

"Oh! Now I remember! Yes, yes, come in! Sorry for my current appearance. Naruto will be out of the shower in a few minutes," Arashi said, letting Gaara enter.

The red-head blushed at the mention of Naruto in the shower. Gaara waited in the hall. He glanced at his watch. He WAS awfully early. But only if one considered five hours early. He could hear Arashi asking Naruto to hurry up. As he waited, Itachi unexpectedly walked by and left. Gaara blinked for a few moments. Why had he been here? And why did his hair look just as bad as Arashi? The red-head shrugged and continued to wait.

Thirty minutes later, Naruto appeared, dressed in his usual orange.

"'Kay! Let's go!"

The blond grabbed Gaara's arm and dragged him out of the apartment.

-

Arashi leaned against the wall as Naruto dragged his friend away. He wondered how Naruto could be so energetic in the morning. Suddenly, the phone rang. He sighed as he answered it.

"Hello? Uzumaki Arashi speaking," he said, slurring his words.

He blinked as the person on the other line gibbered. Slowly he started to become more aware of what he was hearing. It was Anko. Talking rapidly. About information on Wind Shadow.

"I'll be right there!" Arashi said.

He hung up and ran to the bedroom. He couldn't go into the office in his bathroom, now could he?

-

Itachi sat with Sasuke in the bookstore. There was some sort of book signing that Sasuke had wanted to go to, and since Itachi had the day off again, he decided to accompany him. He hadn't noticed it until now, but Sasuke seemed depressed. By depressed, Itachi meant that Sasuke was acting more broody than he usually does and when anyone asked him what was wrong he'd have an unnecessary and angry outburst. Itachi knew something was up. Sasuke never acted like this before.

The dark-blue-haired boy kept glancing everywhere as though looking for someone. Or making sure someone wasn't there, Itachi reasoned. Then the man remembered something. Wasn't Naruto supposed to be here with Sasuke? Hadn't they been blabbering on about this thing for almost a month? Why wasn't Naruto here then? Naruto was an early bird. He would've dragged Sasuke's ass out of bed and bring him here in nothing but his underwear. Then again, Naruto hadn't really been around recently. Obviously, he was at home with Arashi whenever Itachi stopped by, but most of the time the man saw the blond with his little brother.

"Sasuke, what's been going on between you and Naruto?" Itachi asked.

The boy tensed. His eyes widened. He gave the obvious signs that his older brother had brought up a sore subject.

"Sasuke?" Itachi said. "Was it something bad?"

His voice held his normal, expressionless tone, but Itachi knew that Sasuke knew that he was worried.

"That bitch has messed everything up. Did something to his head. He must've. Naruto wouldn't . . . if he hadn't . . . ." Sasuke trailed off, trying not to cry.

Itachi's eyes widened a few centimeters. Since when did Sasuke curse?

"Who are you talking about?" Itachi asked.

Suddenly, the familiar chattering of Naruto filled the air. Sasuke slumped down into his seat, trying to make himself as invisible as possible. Itachi looked over at Naruto. Gaara was with him. Itachi's eyes widened a little more.

"Are you talking about Gaara?"

Sasuke nodded, tears leaking their way to the corners of his eyes. Itachi let this information sink in. Ideas flew through the man's mind, horrible imaginings of what Naruto could've done to Sasuke. Of course, most of them, if not all, were completely out of Naruto's character. Itachi looked back at his brother.

"What did Naruto do?" he asked.

Sasuke curled into a ball in his seat. A single tear rolled down his cheek. Now Itachi was really worried. Sasuke hadn't cried since he was six-years-old, and that was a few days before he met Naruto for the first time.

"He broke up with me. For the damn red-head," Sasuke muttered, wiping the tear away.

-

Red Roses2: Short, I know, but I wanted to leave it at a cliff hanger. I've reached the romance! YAY! 


	10. Chapter 10

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Can I stop saying this now?

-

Itachi stared at Sasuke. What?

"Broke up with you? As in, you two were dating?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke nodded.

"Since when?"

Sasuke looked over at his brother.

"You know how my thirteenth birthday is coming up?" Sasuke said.

Itachi nodded.

"If he hadn't dumped me, we would've been going out for two years," Sasuke continued.

Itachi continued to stare at him. He and Arashi hadn't been together for half a year yet, and his brother had already been dating for two? Itachi looked back over at where Naruto and Gaara were. Naruto was glancing everywhere in the same manner Sasuke had been earlier. He looked worried yet relieved at the same time. Then Naruto caught sight of Itachi. The blond waved and the man gave a slight wave. Then he started walking over.

"Sasuke, if you want to avoid Naruto, I suggest you duck for cover. He's coming this way," Itachi warned.

Sasuke immediately dove behind a bookcase. How he managed it so quickly, Itachi wasn't sure.

"Hello, Naruto-kun, Gaara-kun," Itachi greeted.

"Hey, Itachi-san! Is Sasuke with you?" Naruto asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

Itachi thought for a moment.

"No, he's not. He fell ill yesterday. Doctor says he'll be in bed for weeks," Itachi said.

Naruto frowned.

"Oh. That's too bad. Uh, other than that, is he okay? He and I kind of had a . . . disagreement a little while ago. I've been trying to give him some space, but I'm kind of worried about him," Naruto said, scratching his cheek and looking at the floor.

Gaara had taken Sasuke's former seat and raised an eyebrow.

"Was this disagreement the reason you left the bathroom in a huff that day?" Gaara asked.

"Ah, no, that was a different one," Naruto admitted.

Itachi raised an eyebrow. How many "disagreements" have these two had? Gaara's expression turned suspicious. He crossed his arms and glared into space.

"It's a bit hard to discern the grumpiness caused by the illness and normal teen angst right now," Itachi lied.

"Oh. Okay. So, you here to get Sasuke's autographed copy?" Naruto asked.

Itachi nodded.

"Okay. Uh, one moment." Naruto rummaged around in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He took out twenty bills. "This should be enough for Sasuke's copy. I originally was supposed to buy it for him, but . . . yeah."

Naruto handed the money to Itachi. Itachi took it and thanked him. Naruto stuck a grin on his face and he made Gaara get in line with him. The red-head shoved his hands into his pockets and followed the blond. Itachi walked over to where Sasuke had disappeared. His little brother was leaning against the bookcase, tears rolling down his cheeks and face contorted from holding back sobs. Sasuke closed his eyes and gripped his knees tightly. Itachi knelt down next to him.

"I love him, Itachi. I really do," Sasuke whispered, a sob escaping as he did. "I love Naruto. Maybe . . . maybe if I had told him that, he wouldn't have left me for Gaara. Maybe . . . . Maybe I can get him back?"

Sasuke looked at his brother, as though Itachi had the answer. Itachi merely looked down at the ground, wondering what he could do or say.

"Are you mad at me, Itachi?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi looked up. What?

"Are you mad that I'm gay?" Sasuke said, wiping away the tears. "Are you mad that I'm falling apart just because someone dumped me?"

The man shook his head.

"Just don't tell Mom or Dad. They'll send you to the Christian academy in Europe if you do. You know, the one Obito and I went to? The one I kept complaining about to you over the phone?"

Sasuke nodded. Itachi stood up.

"Do you want me to get the book for you?" Itachi asked; Sasuke nodded again. "Okay."

-

Gaara and Naruto left the bookstore after the book signing. Gaara saw that Naruto was still concerned about Sasuke. Gaara was still concerned about what had happened in the bathroom. He hypothesized the two things had something to do with one another.

"Naruto-kun?" Gaara said; Naruto looked up. "What happened between you and Sasuke?"

Naruto sighed.

"I guess you won't just let me avoid this subject, will you?"

Gaara shook his head. Naruto smirked.

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you. First, I have to give you some background information. Sasuke and I had been dating since we were ten, almost eleven. Yes, we're gay. Do you have a problem with that?" Naruto began, looking at Gaara.

Gaara shook his head no. Naruto sighed in relief and smiled slightly.

"That's good. Anyway, recently, I've been falling for someone else. At first, I wasn't really sure what the wet dreams meant. I thought that maybe I was just eating something weird before I went to bed, like maybe I wasn't supposed to eat beef ramen before I go to sleep. But no matter what I did to make them go away, they wouldn't. I realized I wasn't feeling the same way about Sasuke anymore. I was feeling that way about this other boy who kept haunting my dreams. Obviously, I didn't want to hurt Sasuke any more than I had to, and keeping him in a relationship where the person he was dating didn't feel the same way any more would hurt him more than a break-up. At least, that's what I thought at the time. So, I told him I wanted to see other people. He didn't exactly take it well. At first he thought it was a joke. When he figured out it wasn't, he kind of got . . . I'm not sure what he felt after that. All I know is that we didn't really talk after that until we both ran into each other in the bathroom that time I was really late for P.E."

Naruto paused his story. He frowned and looked back down at the ground again.

"Continue," Gaara urged.

Naruto nodded.

"Right. Well, it was really awkward at first. We sort of ignored each other for a while until Sasuke said something. He asked me why I broke up with him. What I saw in this person I was attracted to. I told him I wasn't sure what made the person different from him. I told him I wasn't sure why I didn't feel the same way about him any more and that I don't really have any control over what I feel. Sasuke kind of started to get mad after that. Not really mad as in angry, more like crazy. He – he sort of pinned me to the wall and kissed me, practically shoved his tongue down my throat."

Gaara's hands tightened into fists. How dare that Uchiha. He definitely deserved the beating Gaara had given him, then.

"I didn't really expect that, so I was kind of stunned for a while. During my stunned state, in between kisses and breaths, Sasuke started saying things that he probably didn't mean, like 'I don't care who else you date, just always be mine' and 'Two-time all you want, just don't leave me.' He couldn't've really meant them. It's just . . . not Sasuke to say things like that, to want things like that. Sasuke's either Number 1 or no body at all. That's just how he is. So, when he started saying those things, he kind of scared me. After my stunned state left, I pushed him off me and, well . . . it wasn't really the NICEST thing I could've said, or I could've at least phrased it better but . . . I basically said that he needed to get over me and get his life back. Then he really scared me because he said that I WAS his life. I – I hadn't meant to hurt him that much, but . . . he'll heal, right? He'll heal and we can just be friends again. Right?" Naruto asked, turning to look at Gaara.

The red-head wasn't sure what to say. He didn't care about the Uchiha at all, but just watching what worrying about Sasuke did to Naruto, Gaara knew he didn't know how to comfort him.

"If Kankuro, Temari, and I can get over watching people die everyday, being assaulted everyday, and being raped by an uncle, I think anyone can get over anything," Gaara said.

It seemed to make Naruto feel a little better. It was obvious that he was still worried, though.

-

Red Roses2: Don't say it. I know. I completely SUCK at Sasuke, and I apologize. Maybe we can blame it on temporary insanity on Sasuke's part? 


	11. Chapter 11

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Been a while, hasn't it? Hope you guys haven't missed me TOO much.

-

Kankuro turned on his desk light. His curtains were closed, his door locked. His clock read midnight. He took out a few marionettes he had constructed himself. He set them on the desk and began to play. Kankuro often did this when he couldn't sleep. Dad was late coming home again. In Suna, Temari, he, and Gaara would be worrying their heads off. Then Temari would yell at Dad while crying tears of relief, Kankuro would give him a hug, and Gaara would ask what took so long, trying not to act like Temari. Dad would always say that there was a car crash or a break-in he had wanted to stay out of so he took the long way home. Here in Konoha, however, Temari didn't worry too much; she'd say that the bank was probably still holding him up. Gaara would take out one of those books he bought with Naruto and read, occasionally glancing at the clock. Kankuro knew Gaara was still worried because the red-head held a knife while he read. Kankuro himself would wait in the kitchen, trying to act normal. He knew it wasn't the bank; it was the Mafia that was making Dad late. He didn't want to think about what was going to happen. So, here Kankuro was, playing with his marionettes at midnight, waiting to hear the front door open. He knew Gaara was still reading his book in his room, still holding the knife and waiting for the click of the front door unlocking. Temari probably was doing homework all three of them knew she had already finished, also waiting.

"How are you today, son?" said the tallest marionette; Kankuro threw his voice despite the fact he didn't have an audience; he never did.

"I'm good, Dad. School was a drag, though. Mom will be back from the grocery store soon," said a smaller marionette that looked suspiciously like Kankuro.

"Daddy!" said a third marionette that looked oddly like Temari.

Kankuro made the marionette run up and hug the father marionette.

"You won't believe what happened today! That cute boy down the street asked me out! Isn't that great?" the Temari-looking marionette said.

"It sure is, daughter," said the father marionette. "Where is your baby brother?"

"In his room reading those horror books again. I think they're the reason he has nightmares," said the Kankuro-looking marionette.

"I can hear you, you know," said the smallest marionette; it looked just like Gaara except without a tattoo on its forehead.

Kankuro stopped playing as he stared at the fifth and sixth marionette. One looked like Yashamaru; the other one looked like their mother. He let all four of the marionette drop and he leaned back in his chair. Back in Suna, he had always done little puppet shows on how he wished their life was. He wanted his mother back. He wanted them to be normal and happy. In his perfect world, Temari would've liked the boy next door, Gaara would just be a normal Goth/horror geek, and he would be the weird kid who would hold puppet shows for the kids at the library. Dad would have a real job, not a career in the Mafia, his mother would be alive and staying at home. Yashamaru wouldn't have died or raped Gaara; he would've been a normal, fun uncle. Like Kankuro had thought he had been. It was sad that he thought that holding little plays would make it all change. He sighed and put the puppets up.

He started at the sound of the front door opening. He shut the desk drawer closed and raced out of his room and down the stairs. Kankuro was closely followed by Gaara. Temari was right behind Gaara. They ran into the hallway. Kankuro's eyes widened. Was that . . . blood on the hall rug?

"Oh, Temari, Kankuro, Gaara. I thought you three would be asleep by now," their father greeted.

"W-what happened?" Temari managed.

"It's nothing, Temari, really. Nothing that a few bandages won't handle. The police took care of it," their father said.

Liar, Kankuro thought.

"Do we need to call an ambulance?" Gaara asked, book still in hand.

Kankuro looked at Gaara. His little brother's voice sounded emotionless. Kankuro saw more than enough emotion in his eyes, though. Anger and worry radiated from Gaara's gaze.

"No, we don't have to call an ambulance. Why don't you three go on up to bed. I'll take care of this myself," their father replied.

Kankuro glanced out of the window next to the door. He caught a glimpse of someone outside.

"Who's outside?" Temari asked.

"It's no one, Temari. Go to bed. All three of you. Now."

There was no arguing. Gaara left the hallway first, opening his book again. Temari looked like she was about to cry. She ran after Gaara, and Kankuro heard her footsteps thundering up the stairs. Kankuro stayed, fists clenched.

"I want to know who's outside. I'm not going to bed until I know."

Kankuro and his father stared at one another for a minute. The man sighed.

"He's a colleague of mine," was the answer.

Kankuro nodded. He didn't say anything. He turned around and walked away, tears threatening to fall. He climbed up the stairs, refusing to run. He wasn't going to let his father know he knew. That might put Anko in trouble. Kankuro closed his door quietly, then slid face-first into his bed. He took the pillow and buried his face into it and screamed.

-

"Kankuro, why are your eyes so red?" Tenten asked after school.

"No reason," Kankuro lied as he stared up at the sky. They were waiting for Gaara and Naruto again. Naruto seemed to be late for everything.

Tenten looked to Temari and the blonde shook her head. Temari had told Tenten and Lee about what happened last night, but Kankuro refused to put any contribution to the story. Tenten nodded. Suddenly, the brunet found himself in a hug. Surprised, Kankuro looked at Tenten and she smiled at him.

Kankuro felt a little better after that.

-

The phone rang. Temari was up in her room planning another party. Kankuro was trying to finish his essay for History. Their father wasn't home, so Gaara answered the phone.

"Hello," he said sullenly. Gaara's facial muscles contorted like they do when one raises an eyebrow. "Yeah, he's here. Kankuro, it's for you."

Kankuro looked up, surprised.

"Who is it?"

"It's a girl. That's all I know."

Gaara handed him the phone. Kankuro took it.

"Hello? This is Kankuro."

"Hey! It's me, Tenten!"

"Hi Tenten. Why're you calling?"

Gaara rolled his eyes and left the room, opening his book as he left.

"Oh, I was just wondering if you'd like to go out sometime!"

Kankuro dropped the phone. He struggled to keep it from hitting the table.

"Can you repeat that?" Kankuro asked. Did a girl really just ask him out?

"Do you want to go out sometime? Like on a date?" Tenten said.

Kankuro forgot that he was on the phone. He whooped and jumped out of his chair. He heard Gaara tell him to shut up, but he ignored him.

"TENTEN JUST ASKED ME OUT!" Kankuro shouted; laughter floated in from the earpiece.

Kankuro blushed heavily.

"I take it that's a yes."

Kankuro chuckled.

"So, I'll see you at the mall on Saturday at 6:00 pm, okay?"

"Sure, that's great. See you there."

"Bye!"

Tenten hung up first. Kankuro sat the phone on its proper space on the wall. He grinned to himself. At least something was working out just fine.

-

Itachi knocked on his little brother's door.

"Who's there?" Sasuke asked sullenly.

"It's your brother."

"Okay."

Itachi walked in, the bottles he was carrying clanking together. Sasuke didn't look at his brother at first. He continued to stare up at the ceiling. It was the same thing Itachi had seen him doing last time he was in here. The older Uchiha sat down in Sasuke's desk chair. He set the bottles down on the desk and looked up at the ceiling. He frowned. A picture of Naruto holding Sasuke in a one-armed hug grinning hung there. Itachi remembered taking that picture. It had been Sasuke's eleventh birthday. Had they already been dating on that day? Itachi hadn't mustered the tact to ask yet.

"Are you sure you want to keep that up there?" Itachi asked.

Sasuke nodded. The man looked down at Sasuke and sighed.

"If you insist," Itachi said, handing him one of the bottles.

Sasuke turned his head to look at it. It was a beer bottle.

"Before you say anything, I know you're too young, but it's what I do when I feel really down."

Sasuke stared at it for a while before taking it. He sat up and opened it.

"What if Mom and Dad find out?" he asked, looking at his older brother.

"They're not. I'll be here to make sure."

Sasuke took his word for it. He brought the bottle to his lips and took a gulp. He made a face at the taste, but he continued to drink it. Itachi didn't say it out loud, but he was also there to make sure Sasuke didn't drink too much. The older Uchiha could get in big trouble for this if the Konoha Police Department found out. Who ever heard of a police officer giving his now-thirteen-year-old brother alcoholic drinks? Itachi reasoned that it couldn't be any worse than the Catholic Church letting kids younger than ten have a sip of wine. He ignored the small little voice that said that one little sip and a whole bottle were too different things. The anti-religion part of him said to hell with the technicalities.

Itachi gawked slightly as Sasuke finished the bottle. That was fast. Maybe this WAS a bad idea.

-

Red Roses2: Isn't Itachi so bad? Bad big brother, bad! Sorry for the wait, people. And if anyone says anything about the catholic thing, I AM catholic so I know what I'm talking about. 


	12. Chapter 12

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. And review damn it! Sometimes a person needs encouragement to write, not just inspiration alone! You're lucky I'm so determined to finish this one!

-

Wind Shadow waited for Orochimaru. He was late. Why was he late? Orochimaru was never late. Wind Shadow sat atop a cardboard box, hoping that the other man would arrive soon. The police knew he was in town, and he really didn't want to be caught. Especially since Gaara was friends with that one cop's son. That would turn into a disaster. He didn't want his career to ruin anything his youngest could have. Same went for Kankuro and Temari. The brunet smiled at the thought of Kankuro. He had heard from Temari that he was going out with a girl from school. Good for him, Wind Shadow thought. He thought about Temari and her parties. He thought about the friends she was making. He thought about the possible suitors for her. He chuckled at the thought. Konoha was so unlike Suna that it was hysterical to him. It was a good hysterical, though, not dark humor. He was glad it was. His thoughts strayed back to Gaara. He frowned. The red-head was still having problems. Insomnia affected him every now and then thanks to the trauma of Yashamaru. Nightmares kept him awake, but when they didn't, Wind Shadow did hear some odd sounds from his son's bedroom. It was almost as though his youngest was having wet dreams. He smiled again at the thought of Gaara liking someone. It was probably good for him. But if whoever she was hurt him, he'd hunt her down and place an even bigger bounty on his own head.

Wind Shadow looked up at the sky. Stars hid behind storm clouds. A raindrop fell, setting the stage for a heavy downpour. Wind Shadow stayed, however. He needed to speak with Orochimaru. It was that, or risk his children's safety. He'd catch pneumonia before he let that happen.

-

"Where's Dad?" Kankuro asked that morning. Temari set their plates on the table.

"I don't know. He never came home last night," Temari answered, looking worried.

Gaara turned a page of his book. He was almost finished with it. He was getting to the most interesting part. The werewolf had just defeated the evil king who had threatened to murder his family and he was about to ask the beautiful red-headed heroine to go out with him. Around Gaara, Kankuro and Temari sat down and ate somberly. The red-head turned another page, waiting for the heroine's answer. His eye twitched as her maid barged in at that moment. This author really knew how to irk someone. Suddenly, Kankuro's fist banging the table jerked Gaara away from his book. Blue eyes looked up to meet dark brown ones.

"What?" Gaara asked, holding his finger where he would continue to read.

Kankuro's face twisted in anger, frustration, and/or worry that he needed to rid himself of. Gaara couldn't tell what exactly it was. But Kankuro did take it out on Gaara whenever he acted like he could care less.

"Why are you just sitting there reading that stupid book?" Kankuro asked. "Aren't you the least bit worried about Dad?"

Kankuro knew the red-head was. The brunet knew Gaara didn't show emotion as often as Temari and himself. But sometimes the older boy ignored the facts and yelled anyway.

"Kankuro, stop it!" Temari demanded.

"You can at least say something!" Kankuro continued.

Gaara took his bookmark and placed it in the book. He set it down on the table quietly. He crossed his arms and looked at Kankuro with indifferent eyes. His older brother tensed slightly. One always was careful around Gaara when he was like this.

"What do you want me to say? That I'm worried? It's pointless to say. There's nothing we can do. This isn't Suna. He's fine," Gaara said.

The red-head's facial muscles moved as though he was raising an eyebrow.

"But – but – he's not fine! He'll never be fine! We'll never be fine! Know why? Because we bring the worst of Suna wherever we go!" Kankuro's voice raised more and more as he talked. "We're always going to end up in trouble, in danger, and everything else that's bad! So why should we NOT worry? There's always something to worry about!"

He was getting on a roll.

"Kankuro, stop it! Just stop it!" Temari cried, covering her ears. Kankuro didn't. He kept talking and talking, making Temari more and more upset. Gaara sat there, letting his brother rant.

"Are you done?" he asked.

Kankuro stopped talking and Temari halted her crying.

"We're better off here. Nothing can get any worse from here. Everything's getting better. Anywhere is better than Suna. Everywhere is better than the place where you were torn apart. Temari's resolve and confidence was ripped to shreds there. You're trying to piece yourself together with this outburst and those puppet shows you hold for yourself. I don't even know how to put myself together. Instead of yelling at us, how about you help us? Temari holds those parties to distract herself. So, how about we find a less money consuming thing to help her?" Gaara said.

Temari laughed nervously. Kankuro looked down at the ground. Gaara took his book back up and continued to read.

"Sorry I yelled," Kankuro said.

Gaara grunted and finally got to the part where the heroine kissed the werewolf.

-

"Alright class," Kurenai-sensei said to Temari's homeroom, "It's our job to hold the prom this year. So, who would like to be in charge of the planning?"

Temari's hand shot up right away, as did Tenten's.

"Okay, Temari and Tenten shall be in charge. If you two would stand up please. Thank you. Now, everyone, listen closely to these two and don't give them any trouble. You two, listen to all of their ideas and give them a fair chance. Also, see what the seventh graders are interested in."

"They'll be eighth graders awfully soon, though. It's almost spring," Lee muttered as Kurenai-sensei left.

Neji nodded.

"Hinata-chan will suffer like the rest of us," the Hyuuga said.

Everyone laughed.

"So, anyone have any ideas? Maybe a theme?" Tenten said, getting out a notepad and pen.

"What kind of theme?" asked a girl in the back.

"How about a martial arts theme? Gai-sensei would love that!" Lee suggested.

"As tempting as that is, Lee, I really don't want Gai-sensei getting any ideas," commented another boy.

"I know!" Temari said, grinning mischievously. "How about a romantic movie theme? Everyone picks a movie and we all have to decide which one it'll be. Then we play music, get colors that match and so forth!"

Neji, Lee, and the other boys all cringed at the thought.

"Maybe we should ask the seventh graders . . . ." Neji muttered. "At least Hinata-chan wouldn't suggest anything like that."

Temari glared at him. Tenten tried to get them to calm down.

-

Gaara looked at Temari as though she had grown a second head. He blinked slowly for a minute and asked her to repeat the question. She did.

"Please, Gaara-nii-chan! I really need your help!" Temari said.

Gaara sighed.

"Fine," he muttered. He looked off to the side, turning slightly red.

"Maybe . . . maybe a water theme . . . ." Gaara mumbled. Temari blinked for a few seconds. "You know, like rivers or whatever . . . . ."

"Wow, Gaara, that's actually a good idea. How'd you come up with that so fast?" his sister asked.

The red-head turned even redder. The blonde looked at what Gaara was staring at. Naruto was talking to that Nara kid and his chubby friend. She looked back at Gaara. She smirked all-knowingly.

"Ah, so you DO like him," she said.

He stayed quiet for a few minutes.

"No telling anyone. Or else."

"Okay, okay. It'll be our little secret. But it does explain those wet dreams of yours."

"Shut up."

-

Kankuro sat on the brim of the mall's fountain. He looked at his watch. In five more minutes, Tenten would be here. He could barely sit still. He had never been on a date before. No one in Suna was safe enough to go out with. He wondered what Tenten would want to do, what he wanted to do, what was available and if they could do it all by the time Kankuro needed to be back home. He wasn't going to make Temari and Gaara worry. Not like his father. Kankuro frowned as he thought about his father. He wished his father would be safe and come back home soon. He had been gone for almost 48 hours now. The brunet didn't like that.

"Hey, Kankuro!" Tenten's voice called.

Kankuro turned his head and grinned.

"Hey, Tenten!"

The girl ran up to him and gave him a hug.

"I was thinking we could go to a movie. I wasn't sure which one you'd like to watch, but we can look at what's out right now," she said, smiling angelically.

"That sounds great. The movies are on the third floor, right?"

"Right!"

Tenten grabbed Kankuro's hand and pulled him toward the escalator.

"Let's get the tickets and try to get a good seat! I like the seats that aren't too close but aren't too far away from the screen. You know, the ones near the middle." Tenten said.

"Yeah, I think I do. I haven't really watched many movies because in Suna, they're actually the perfect moments to go and shoot someone. No one ever knows who did it." Not that it mattered, Kankuro added in his head. He mentally cursed himself for mentioning Suna because Tenten frowned slightly. "Sorry, sorry. Grim topic, I know. Sorry."

"It's alright. I just can't believe that a single town can be so bad."

Kankuro nodded.

"Neither can I, and I lived there."

Tenten seemed to understand. She brightened up and continued to drag him up the escalator. They pretended the conversation never happened.

-

Neji and Temari walked into the party store. Neji unfolded the list.

"Okay, we need blue plates, green napkins, blue balloons, green streamers, and blue-and-green everything else. We also need to see if we can get one of those ice sculpture things. It's supposed to be of a dolphin, right?" Neji read.

Temari nodded.

"Who gave you this idea, anyway?" Neji asked as they walked down the isle of eatery ware.

"Gaara," Temari answered, putting the plates in their cart.

Neji raised an eyebrow at her. Temari knew what he wanted to ask. She figured he wasn't sure if he should ask it.

"Normally, I would love to go around and tell everyone about it, but I promised Gaara I wouldn't, and Gaara hates it when his private stuff is thrown out there for everyone to see and hear. Let's just say the theme reminds him of someone."

Neji nodded. They continued their shopping in silence. The only sounds that came from them were the thump tap sounds of things falling into the cart.

"Who's Yashamaru?" Neji asked suddenly.

Temari almost dropped the fabric she held. She had never told Neji about Yashamaru before.

"If something's bothering you, you should tell your friends. Not just let one of them hear from something Tenten and Lee were talking about. Unless you think I'm not that close of a friend."

Temari set the fabric in the cart. She waited a few moments before she answered. Looking up, she took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. But I had upset Gaara one night during studying and I had to explain to Tenten, Naruto, and Lee. I myself still can't talk about it much. It's not as bad as Gaara. Poor thing can't even hear his name without storming back to his room and locking the door. Kankuro seems to be the one in between. He usually is." Temari took another deep breath. "Yashamaru was my uncle. He died before we came to Suna. I think his death rattled Dad too because he started making plans of moving right away. Gaara wouldn't come out of his room until our moving day."

Neji bowed apologetically.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"No, it's fine."

Temari brushed away a tear and smiled.

"I think we're almost done with the shopping here," Temari said.

"We still need to find that ice sculpture."

"Do you really think we're going to find it here?"

"Good point."

Neji chuckled a bit and Temari laughed.

-

Red Roses2: Not much happening, but at least the romance is moving along. Now, you readers must review or I won't be a very happy author. Angry authors are scary things. They murder favorite characters for no apparent reason. They withhold updates. And I know you people are reading, so that would be bad for all of you, wouldn't it? And being lazy is not an excuse. There's this thing called an anonymous review. 


	13. Chapter 13

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. One: I'm not Japanese. I can't even pass for being Japanese. Two: I'm a girl. Masashi Kishimoto is a boy. No suing. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but it's hard to update when there's nothing to update with.

-

"Alright people! Keep moving! Keep moving! We have to finish this gym before tomorrow!" Temari shouted into a megaphone.

Kankuro glared at his sister. How did he get wrapped up in this decorating thing? He glanced up at Tenten who stood atop a ladder. He held the ladder steady as she hung the banner. His eyes wandered until they landed on her blue-jean rear. Oh yeah. That's how. He hadn't been listening to Temari when she was asking him, so he said yes before he knew what had been asked. He cursed his sister under his breath as Tenten climbed down.

"Now, all we have to do is put up these streamers," Tenten said, holding up the bag.

Kankuro grumbled something. Tenten laughed.

"We're not using you as a slave, Kankuro-kun. Now come on!" she said, pulling him along.

"Then how come the other seventh graders aren't here?" he asked.

"Well, I know why your brother isn't here. Not sure about the others . . . ."

Kankuro raised an eyebrow at her.

"Then, how come Gaara's not here?"

Tenten's grin looked way too much like a fox's smirk.

"Because Temari-chan is too busy trying to hook them up. She sent Gaara off to accompany Naruto-kun to a book release. She's also trying to find them tickets to an Evanescence concert and make them go on that."

Kankuro choked. The neuron passageways that controlled his shock and gag reflex crossed temporarily, causing him to choke on air. Tenten dropped the bag and patted him on the back. She almost called for someone to help when Kankuro calmed down. He straightened up and looked at Tenten. She recoiled slightly at his pissed look.

"And how do you know this?" Kankuro asked, his eyebrow twitching.

"Uh . . . she said she wasn't supposed to tell me, or Neji or Lee, but she couldn't resist. She said that Gaara liked Naruto and that she was going to try and get them together," Tenten explained.

She watched as the twitch that infected his eyebrow spread to his facial muscles. Then, suddenly –

"TEMARI! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Kankuro ran after Temari. Temari broke into a dash and sped out of the gym, yelling orders to everyone as she went. Kankuro continued to scream at her. It was something about abusing Gaara's rights of privacy or about using a cop's son for her own perverse fantasies.

-

Itachi stared out the window of the police car. Arashi kept his eyes on the road. Occasionally, the blond would glance at his partner but other than that, one would think they were ignoring each other.

Arashi pulled up at a red light and watched the cars pass in front of them.

"Pretty crime-free day today," Arashi commented, relaxing into his seat.

Itachi grunted. Arashi chuckled. He stopped when he noticed Itachi wasn't smirking, as he usually did when the blond made pointless observations.

"What's wrong?" Arashi asked.

Itachi turned to look at him. His face looked affected by lack of sleep. As usual, Arashi couldn't tell what he was feeling or thinking. He half expected the Uchiha to just turn back toward the window.

"You know how most people think I'm an immoral cop?" Itachi muttered.

Arashi ignored the erotic chill that the deep voice sent down his spine.

"Yes," Arashi replied, just as the light turned green.

He stepped on the gas and continued to drive. Itachi waited until they reached another red light to continue.

"This time I really did do something bad," Itachi muttered.

Arashi waited for him to say more. Itachi looked up at the red changing to green. Arashi sighed and stepped on the gas again. The Uchiha raised an eyebrow as the blond pulled into a parking lot. The police head parked and gave Itachi his full attention.

"What was it?" Arashi asked, a ghost of a smirk fluttering around his face.

Itachi glared; this wasn't a laughing matter. The last time Itachi had brought this up, Arashi had honestly burst out laughing and said that it was none of their business because it was in a different city. The Uchiha didn't want to be laughed at again, especially not for this.

"I think I turned my brother into an alcoholic."

The ghost of the smirk became extinct. Arashi stared at him blankly for a while. It was a good thing it was a quiet day.

"Why would you think that?" the police head asked.

Itachi turned his head away from him. He concentrated his gaze onto the windshield.

"I . . . let him have a couple of beers one night. A few days after that, I overheard Mother accusing Father of drinking too much. She said all of the sake in their cupboard was gone; they keep it in a cupboard that Sasuke's not supposed to be able to reach, but knowing that brat . . . . He's also been staying out later at night than usual. And . . . after that recent drug scandal we broke up, you know how I was told to take some of it home and give it to those scientists later so they could see exactly what it was?"

Arashi nodded.

"I only was able to give them half of it. The other half disappeared. Later, after I came back home, Mother was crying and was saying something about Sasuke having to go to the hospital. When she explained it to me, it sounded as though Sasuke had taken an overdose of something. He looks okay now, but . . . ." Itachi trailed off.

Arashi looked down at the floor. That did sound really bad, but . . . .

"Why would Sasuke do that? He doesn't seem like he's the type to - ."

"You don't know, do you? About what happened between him and Naruto?"

Arashi's eyebrows furrowed.

"What are you talking about?"

Itachi looked over at Arashi.

"Naruto and Sasuke had been dating for two years before this happened. Recently, Naruto broke up with him. Sasuke suspects it's over that red-haired kid from Suna. It's messed him up a little." Itachi explained.

Arashi stared at Itachi for a while. What?

"But – Naruto would've told me - !"

"Not if he thought you wouldn't approve. Neither Sasuke nor Naruto know about us, right?" Itachi interrupted. "Besides, you'd have to be at least bi to marry a woman and let her have your child."

Silence reigned in the car. Arashi sat there, thinking over what Itachi just told him. Itachi leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling.

"What do we do?" Arashi asked.

Itachi paled somewhat. That wasn't what he had wanted to hear.

-

Gaara stopped and turned around. Naruto halted and looked over his shoulder, book in hand.

"Gaara, what - ?"

"Someone's following us."

The red-head scanned the crowded hall. Everyone looked as though they were in a hurry or talking to one another. He tried to find someone who stood out. Anyone . . . but to no avail. He looked and looked but he couldn't find anyone. The strangest people he found were some oddly-dressed teens, though he shouldn't talk.

"You sure?" Naruto asked.

Gaara nodded.

"Come on," Gaara muttered.

He picked up his pace. Naruto followed him. Gaara practically ran through the mall, Naruto finding it hard to keep up. The sense of being followed still plagued Gaara. He looked over his shoulder. He couldn't see anyone. The faster he ran and made unnecessary turns, the more he felt as though they were being followed.

"Gaara, wait up!" Naruto called.

Despite his better judgment, he stopped and waited for Naruto. The blond panted and looked like he wanted an explanation.

"We have to get out of here, or else I'm not going to be able to find out who's following," Gaara muttered.

"Okay. Why don't we just go out the way everyone else does? It might make it easier for us to loose him," Naruto suggested.

Gaara nodded. They made a right and calmly walked to the mall entrance. They reached the bus stop and looked around. The only ones standing there were them.

"I think we lost whoever it was in the crowd. Either that, or all that running you made us do," Naruto said, glaring at him slightly.

The corner of Gaara's mouth twitched upward.

-

Atop the bus stop hanging stood a man. He peered over the awning enough to see the tops of their heads. He hoped he hadn't lost Wind Shadow's child in the ground and that this was, indeed, the proper red-head. He had no idea who the blond was, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that he filled out his mission. He needed to fulfill this mission, no matter what the cost to him, his master, or that traitorous bastard.

-

Red Roses2: Sorry if this is too short, but I haven't had much inspiration lately. Sorry. Hope you like this update, though! Please review. 


	14. Chapter 14

Red Roses2: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

-

Gaara sat up, awake, in his bed. His hand clenched around a knife. The clock ticked toward one o'clock AM. Insomnia and fear – yes, fear – kept him awake. He held a loaded gun in his writing hand. His door was locked. He hoped that Naruto was alright, though he was pretty sure he would be because his father was a police officer. Who had the nerve to go after a cop? He couldn't even think of anyone in Suna who would, though that might've been because the Mafia was actually safer than Suna police. Kankuro and Temari had already been in the beds when Gaara returned. The red-head had taken several detours, the feeling of being watched still lingering. It still hung around him, even as he kept his eyes on the window, the only access into the room. The window was even curtained. There was no way anyone could see him even if they pressed their faces up to his two-stories-up window.

The clock ticked to two o'clock AM. Insomnia kept him away, though the fear lifted somewhat. Until he heard the front door open. He froze and kept his ears open. He wasn't about to leave his room unless it was absolutely necessary. He heard his father's voice and he relaxed. Nothing to worry about. But he did wonder who was talking to him . . . .

"Have you lost your mind, Orochimaru!?" Gaara's father shouted from down below, probably from the hall.

The adult must've thought that Gaara's insomnia wasn't affecting him that night. Either that or he was really angry. Gaara thought about why his father would be very angry. His eyes widened when he realized the reason. The man always became furious whenever the mention of child molestation or rape was brought up . . . .

"Come now, what was I supposed to do? He was too tempting, all stoned and drunk. All at thirteen, too," said a voice Gaara didn't recognize.

"He's the little brother of Uchiha Itachi! Do you know who Uchiha Itachi is!"

"Yes, I know who Uchiha Itachi is. But that doesn't matter because Uchiha is - ."

"I don't care if Uchiha is the devil incarnate! You can't just go around – go around – GO AROUND DOING WHAT YASHAMARU DID TO MY SON!"

The sounds of flesh hitting flesh shot through the air as though it were a gunshot. Struggling sounds reverberated back to Gaara. The red-head hopped out of bed. He unlocked the door as fast as he could with one hand carrying a gun and the other a knife. He ran down the stairs, and, as soon as he got into view of the two men, he aimed at the stranger and shot. Shocked, the pale figure disappeared into the shadows and ran out the front door. Gaara's father turned around, his lip swollen. His eyes widened at the sight of his youngest.

"Gaara - ," the man started, but the noise of Kankuro and Temari running down the stairs interrupted.

The older siblings joined them faster than Gaara thought they would. Temari held her special fan, and Kankuro held the bat he kept by his bedroom door.

"What happened?" Temari demanded, looking from the bloodstain on the floor and the gun in Gaara's hand to their father.

Kankuro's eyes widened. Gaara didn't know that eyes could get that wide. He stared at Gaara much longer than Temari did, then slowly turned to their father. He looked like he had been betrayed somehow.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Kankuro burst.

The man opened his mouth to talk, but Kankuro wouldn't let him.

"I heard everything that guy was talking to you about! I heard what you two were talking about in that alleyway a while back, back when Gaara got shot in the head! And, what about the Uchiha kid? You were talking about Sasuke, right? What the hell did that creep do to him!? I don't know the entire story about what happened with Uncle Yashamaru and Gaara, but I do know what pisses you off and I don't like what I'm hearing! If you care so much, why the hell are you letting all of this happen!? You're – you're – YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO HURT ANYONE LIKE THIS! How can you – how can you - ?"

Kankuro dropped the bat and ran out the door.

"KANKURO!" their father yelled, running after him. "IT'S NOT SAFE OUT THERE TONIGHT! KANKURO!"

Temari, trembling, hesitated, then closed the door. She turned toward the phone and dialed the very familiar number of 911. Gaara heard her talking to some cop named Anko before he felt his insomnia lifting and dreamland finally calling his name.

-

The school chattered non-stop about the school party that night. All Temari managed to do was stare at the ceiling, frowning. Tenten tried to talk to her, but her voice seemed so far away to the blonde. Lee tried waving a hand in her face to break her trance, but she merely looked in a different direction. Temari just couldn't stop worrying about Kankuro. He hadn't been found yet, and if he had, Anko-sempai wasn't telling her. Her father did return home and said that he was going to be coming home late that night. Said something about work keeping him very busy lately. Gaara wouldn't tell her anything, but she knew he had heard every word in last night's conversation between their father and the mystery person. All Temari knew was that it had something to do with the Uchiha family.

"Temari, what's wrong?" Neji asked.

Temari finally looked at him. The room was empty except for them. Temari looked at her watch. They should've been in their next class.

"Come on, Temari-chan, please tell us," Lee added.

Temari looked at Lee.

"It's noth - ."

"Does it have anything to do with Kankuro?" Tenten interrupted.

The blonde looked over at the other girl. She sat in a chair, arms crossed. Shadows were unusually hiding her expression.

"The news said that a Konoha High student ran away from home. With the exception of Sasuke, Kankuro's the only one missing," Tenten continued.

"What happened to Sasuke?" Temari asked.

"Something about a doctor's visit," Neji said. "Whatever it was, Itachi-sempai got Obito-sempai to tell Iruka-sensei about it. At least that's what Hinata-chan says."

Temari looked down at her hands. She found that they were trembling. Neji reached out and put a hand on hers. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"My father was yelling at someone – I don't know who – and they were talking about the Uchiha family," Temari said, "It sounded like the person Dad was talking to did something really bad to Sasuke. Whatever is meant by "what Yashamaru did to my son", that's whatever happened to him. But I don't know what that means. Kankuro obviously does, because he got so upset he started yelling at Dad and ran off into the night. Dad tried to catch up to him and make him come back, but he must've outrun him because Dad came back home and called the cops immediately. I don't know if he mentioned Sasuke in the phone call. I – I think Gaara does, but he won't talk to me. He said it wasn't any of my business. I think he muttered something about it also not being Kankuro's business, but I can't be sure. I just don't know what to think or do right now."

They sat in silence. Neji stood up, moved around her desk, and wrapped an arm around her. Tenten didn't look up. She seemed to be a statue, the shadows on her face never budging.

Then the bell rang. They needed to move. They couldn't skip all their classes.

-

Sasuke awoke to a blinding light. He covered his eyes and sat up. His sight adjusted and he discovered he was in a hospital. He winced as his head throbbed. The urge to vomit crept quickly onto him.

"Here," muttered someone.

Sasuke took the bucket that was given to him and puked into it. When finished, he looked at the person who gave it to him. Itachi stood at the side of his bed, face as emotionless as ever.

"When did I get here?" Sasuke asked hoarsely.

"Two hours ago," Itachi explained.

The younger brother looked up at a clock. It was nine o'clock. Sasuke gagged. Itachi closed his eyes as the sounds of retching filled the room again. He opened them again when the sound stopped.

"Are Mom and Dad here?" Sasuke asked, his voice almost sounding far away.

Itachi shook his head.

"I haven't called them yet."

"Do you have to call them?"

"Yes, because they're going to be getting the hospital bill."

"Why can't you pay for it?"

"I'm not your legal guardian. Besides, I don't get paid that much. Dad's the millionaire, remember?"

Vomiting sounds interrupted the conversation. For a second, Itachi looked as though watching this was painful. The look quickly disappeared.

"I don't want Mom and Dad to know," Sasuke admitted.

"I know," Itachi replied.

Suddenly, Sasuke gasped and his grip on the bucket tightened. Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong?"

Sasuke didn't answer.

"When you found me, how did I . . . how did you find me?"

"That question has different meanings, Sasuke."

"How did you find me as in . . . what did the . . . scene look like . . . ?"

Sasuke puked again. Itachi thought about how he should answer that.

After the younger was finished, the older said, "You looked like a normal unconscious, stoned and drunk kid except for . . . the fact that . . . your pants were unzipped."

Sasuke closed his eyes and held his head.

"I thought so."

The younger bit his lip as his frame trembled. Itachi shifted uncomfortably, his right arm making obscure motions that looked as though he was trying to put his hand on his little brother's shoulder.

"Arashi has agreed to question you about what happened," Itachi said, his right arm resigning to crossing with the left across his chest. "He won't press any charges for underage drinking or - ."

"Nii-san," Sasuke interrupted.

Itachi looked up. Their eyes met for a moment. The elder Uchiha remembered painfully why he never wanted to deal with comforting victims. The hurt in the dark irises tore the heart everyone thought to be so black inside his chest. Itachi blocked the thought of what else lay in Sasuke's eyes, but the boy confirmed it with two sentences.

"Don't bother. It's all my fault, anyway," Sasuke muttered, his frame shaking even more, just like it was in the bookstore. Tears fought to escape his eyelashes. "It's all my fault for everything. Even what happened with Naruto."

Itachi's hands balled into fists, but he didn't say a word. His voice refused to work despite the need for him to say what he was thinking.

'It is not.'

-

Neji tapped Temari on the shoulder. The blonde turned to him.

"Yes?" she asked.

Neji flushed a light pink.

"Would you care to go to the party with me?"

Temari stared at him for a while. She had actually forgotten that the party was that evening. She managed a smile.

"I'd love to."

Neji smiled feebly.

"Thank you."

-

Noise filled the school gym with noise. Temari and Neji stood near the snack table, neither really wanting to join the dancing. Neji knew Temari was still upset about Kankuro, and Temari knew that they were both concerned about Tenten. The poor girl sat against a wall, wearing a gorgeous Chinese dress and staring at the floor. Kankuro was supposed to be her date. Lee stood near her, keeping an eye on her, but Temari and Neji knew that their friend couldn't abandon his own date. Neji and Temari looked at each other and, knowing what the other was thinking, nodded and they walked over to Tenten. They sat on either side of her.

"How are you?" Temari asked Tenten.

"Just fine considering the circumstances. Have you heard any word about Kankuro?" Tenten questioned.

"Not yet, I'm afraid." Temari sighed. "I miss him, too."

Neji nudged Tenten.

"I know something that'll get your mind off of that for a while. Am I really seeing what I think I'm seeing?" Neji said.

He pointed and the two girls looked. Tenten managed a smile while Temari giggled happily. They could see Naruto and Gaara standing just on the edge of the dance floor. It obviously was what it looked like; Naruto was either attempting to get Gaara to dance with him on the dance floor, or Gaara just didn't want people to know that he was dancing so they were awkwardly walking circles around each other, Naruto's hand clasped around the red-head's elbow. Neji couldn't help but snort.

"They look ridiculous," Neji commented.

"Yeah," Tenten agreed.

Temari stood up.

"I have an idea. Come on!"

The two dark-haired teens followed their friend to the other side of the room. Temari walked right behind Naruto and Gaara, took a deep breath, and yelled, "Hi, Gaara-nii-chan!" Naruto jumped and Gaara turned around and glared at his sister.

"Temari," the red-head growled.

Neji noticed that Naruto immediately let go of Gaara's elbow.

"Have you two finally started dating?" Temari asked.

Naruto turned bright red. Gaara merely glared more.

"W-w-we're not dating," Naruto muttered. "I was trying to get Gaara to ask one of the girls to dance. You know, he doesn't get out much."

"Will you quit it, Temari? You're scaring him," Gaara said. The red-head then proceeded to drag Naruto out of the gym, saying something about coming to this being a bad idea.

Temari grinned as she turned to Tenten and Neji.

"They're probably going to go make out in a closet or something. Want to go see, Tenten-chan?" the blonde asked.

Tenten shook her head.

"No thanks. I'm good," Tenten replied. Temari frowned.

-

The shadows elongated and gained weight. The stars and moon were obscured by the dark clouds.

"Ready, kid?"

"I'm not the one you need to ask."

"Hey, Orochimaru said no arguing!"

"How about all three of you are quiet? You'll give us away. You all remember the mission, right?"

"Yes."

"Duh."

"We're not that stupid."

"So you admit you're stupid."

"Wait – hey!"

"Shut up. It's time."

The four figures dispersed and invaded the school.

-

A figure stood atop the school. He glowered down at the figures who invaded. He loaded his gun and prepared. "Time to fulfill Master's orders."

-

Gaara leaned against the wall. Naruto paced up and down the hallway.

"Where'd she get the idea that we're . . . well . . . ." Naruto said.

"She's crazy," Gaara lied. "Who knows where she gets her ideas."

Naruto seemed to relax. Gaara's facial muscles contorted as though he were raising an eyebrow.

"What's the matter?" the red-head asked.

Naruto stiffened. They stood in silence for a while. Slowly, the gears in Gaara's head began to turn. His eyes widened slightly and his body showed the signs of relaxing into welcome surprise.

"Naruto," he said; the blond turned to him, looking really nervous, "do you - ?"

A sound interrupted him. Naruto and Gaara looked down the hallway, Gaara laying his hand on the gun holster on his belt. The red-head had hid it from Principal Tsunade. Naruto started coughing. A wave of nausea overwhelmed Gaara. The red-head swayed and staggered. Gas filled the hallway. It acted like a fog. The red-head heard footsteps and a thump, as though something – or someone – had hit the floor. Gaara coughed and fell to his knees. Darkness took over, and Gaara knew no more.

-

Lee came over to where Neji, Tenten, and Temari stood.

"Hey, guys," he greeted, pouring himself a glass of punch.

"Where's Sakura?" Neji asked.

Lee pointed to where Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji were.

"Choji asked if Sakura could spare a dance with him. I said I didn't mind. You okay, Tenten?"

Tenten nodded. Temari opened her mouth to ask Lee if he had seen Gaara, but screaming interrupted her and the music. The band halted and everyone looked at the gym doors. Four figures stood there. One wore a porcelain mask. Another wore bandages around his face. Two had nothing covering their faces, but they still looked menacing with their guns in their hands. The porcelain-masked one was the only one without a gun, but the throwing needles looked just as dangerous.

"We're only going to say this once: where are Kankuro, Temari, and Gaara?" the bandaged one asked.

"Answer, and we won't hurt anyone else," the porcelain masked one added.

The third intruder, a boy, grunted.

"I say we kill them all. That way we'll make sure we get them," he said.

"Don't be stupid, Zaku," said the girl intruder. "Temari's blonde, Kankuro's a brunet, and Gaara's a red-head. It'd be a complete waste to shoot them all. Besides, I don't see any red-heads in here.

"Damn it!" the bandaged one said. "I'll be right back. Find Temari and Kankuro."

"Dosu! Where're you going?" the girl asked.

"I know where Gaara is."

-

The man turned the machine on. The machine sucked all the gas out of the hallway. He walked into the hallway. His lungs took a sharp intake of breath.

"Gaara!"

He knelt down next to him and felt for his pulse. The boy was still alive.

'They'll be back once they realize,' he thought.

He picked Gaara up and noticed the blond a ways away.

'That's the boy he was with yesterday.'

He picked the blond up as well and quickly found a janitor's closet. He laid them in there and closed the door.

'Time to find Temari and Kankuro.'

-

Red Roses2: I think that's long enough for now. Please review. 


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